With the end of the war came another problem: the Radio Communication Act of 1912 was again in effect. This act provided that the government would guarantee the secrecy of communications.

No person or persons engaged in or having knowledge of the operation of any station or stations shall divulge or publish the contents of any messages transmitted or received by such station, except to the person to whom the same may be directed, or their authorized agent, or to another station employed to forward such message to its destination, unless legally required to do so by the court of competent jurisdiction oe other competent authority.

The law had been enacted after the proclamation of the International Radio-Telegraph Convention of July 8, 1912. Three days earlier, the United States had joined a great many other nations in London in affixing their signatures to the document. This was a very significant step for the United States, since it represented the first international convention of its type top which the country had adhered. To the Black Chamber, however, it represented a large obstacle that had to be overcome-illegally, if necessary.

- The Puzzle Palace, James Bamford, Penguin Books, 1983

In the end, despite Senator Robinson's charge that the bill was nothing more than a gag law, much like the old alien and sedition laws, H.R. 4220 became Public Law 37. The final version, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 10, 1933, was as follows:

An ACT for the Preservation of Government Records.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That whoever, by virtue of his employment by the United States, shall obtain from another or shall have custody of or access to, any official diplomatic code or any matter prepared in such code, and shall willfully, without authorization or competent authority, publish or furnish to another any such code or matter, or any matter which was obtained while in the process of transmission between any foreign government and its diplomatic mission in the United States, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

Today, changed only slightly, the law remains in the criminal statutes as Section 952 of Title 18 of the United States Code.

- The Puzzle Palace, James Bamford, Penguin Books, 1983

Somewhat interesting in the Puzzle Palace which caused a little stir with it's publication as well if I remember right. But this law was enacted to suppress the publication of Herbert Yardley's book "Japanese Diplomatic Secrets: 1921-1922", following his first somewhat sensational and rather popular "The American Black Chamber".

Can you be sued for credit card debt?