Jan 20, 2012, 20:53 GMT
Washington - Key legislators called off efforts Friday to pass anti-piracy bills, two days after an unprecedented online protest led by web giants Wikipedia and Google.
Congressman Lamar Smith and Senator Harry Reid said they would abandon efforts to push the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) through the two congressional chambers in order to address criticisms that they would curtail online freedom by giving content owners far greater powers to shut down websites that are linked to pirated material.
'In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote on the Protect IP Act,' Senate Majority Leader Reid, a Democrat, said in a statement on Friday.
'I have heard from the critics, and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,' Smith said in a statement. 'It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products.'
The legislation had been aggressively backed by entertainment companies desperate to crack down on sites that enable users to get pirated copies of the latest movies, television shows and music to come out of Hollywood.
But in an unprecedented protest Wednesday, online encyclopedia Wikipedia led thousands of sites that blacked out their home pages, while Google covered its famous logo on its home page to draw attention to the issue.
The decision to delay the legislation was greeted by internet companies but condemned by the entertainment industry.
'This is a wise decision given the fact that thousands upon thousands of individuals, businesses, mayors, entrepreneurs and countless others have weighed in this week in historic fashion against this legislation,' said Rey Ramsey of TechNet, a group of top technology CEOs. 'While everyone agrees that combating online piracy is important, this measure unfortunately is not going to stop it.'
Chris Dodd, chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America and a former Democratic senator, described the delay as a boost for criminals.
'As a consequence of failing to act, there will continue to be a safe haven for foreign thieves,' Dodd said.
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