The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 set up the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to police unfair business practices. Initially, the FTC had many powers, but a 1919 Supreme Court decision ruled that only the courts could interpret the laws to determine what practices were unfair. The role of the FTC as a decision-making body was severely limited. The Wheeler-Lea Act of 1938 gave the FTC responsibil-ity for prohibiting "deceptive acts or practices in commerce." The FTC then took on the role of policing false and deceptive advertising.