The U.S. Senate is postponing next week's vote on a bill targeting
online piracy, after Internet companies staged an online blackout to
protest the legislation and a similar bill in the House of
Representatives.
Wednesday's protest caused some lawmakers to withdraw support for the
bills — the Stop Online Piracy Act before the House, and the Protect
Intellectual Property Act in the Senate. Critics at organizations such
as Wikipedia and Google say the bills would censor the Web and threaten
freedom of expression.
Advocates of the legislation say it
is needed to protect those who create movies, television shows, music
and software from people who illegally copy and distribute their work.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Friday said he is confident
lawmakers can reach a compromise that protects Americans' intellectual
property and maintains openness and innovation on the Internet.
Even without new legislation, Washington is pushing forward with its
fight against theft of copyrighted materials.
In what the U.S. is calling one of its largest criminal copyright cases
ever, four executives of the file-sharing website Megaupload appeared in
a New Zealand court Friday, a day after the U.S. government shut down
the site. U.S. prosecutors have charged its founder and six others with
violating piracy laws.
The New Zealand judge ruled that the men would remain in custody until a
second hearing on Monday.
Megaupload was a popular site allowing users to upload and transfer very
large files. U.S. officials say the site used this ability to make
copyrighted material, like Hollywood movies, available free, often
before films are even released in theaters. Authorities say Megaupload
cost copyright holders more than $500 million.
But the company and many celebrity supporters say the site was mainly
used for legitimate file transfers.
If
found guilty, the suspects face more than 20 years in prison.
New Zealand police raided 10 properties around the city of Auckland and
arrested Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and other top executives at the
request of U.S. authorities. They seized millions of dollars worth of
assets, including luxury cars and artwork.
The shutdown of Megaupload appeared to prompt retaliation from a
hackers' group known as Anonymous, which claimed responsibility for
attacks on the website of the U.S. Justice Department and several
entertainment industry sites.
Most of the sites were back online by Friday. The FBI says it is
investigating.
