The US Congress has officially postponed the votes on two controversial anti-piracy bills, the Protect IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid delayed Tuesday's scheduled vote on PIPA "in light of recent events", after which House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith announced that his panel would not consider SOPA until there is wider agreement on the legislation.
The two acts aim to help service providers tackle websites deemed to be in violation of copyright infringement, although critics argue that they could have devastating repercussions for legitimate websites if passed.
Earlier this week, Wikipedia went down for 24 hours in protest at the proposed legislation. The site's founder Jimmy Wales later celebrated the impact of the blackout, claiming that at least 162 million people saw its message calling for the protection of a free and open internet.
Following Wikipedia's action, a number of Senators withdrew their support for the bill, while more than 4.5 million people signed a Google petition, which claimed the acts would endanger net neutrality and put a burden on legitimate sites.
Explaining his decision today, Smith noted: "I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy.
"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."
Reid said on Twitter: "In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote on the PROTECT IP Act."
However, he added: "There's no reason that legitimate issues raised about PROTECT IP can't be resolved. Counterfeiting & piracy cost 1000s of #jobs yearly. Americans rightfully expect to be fairly compensated 4 their work. I'm optimistic that we can reach compromise on PROTECT IP in coming weeks."
Barack Obama's administration had previously declared that the bills would not be passed in their current state, as the government would not support any anti-piracy legislation that facilitates online censorship.
Under current US law, only the creators of copyright-infringing material can be sued by the copyright owners, but SOPA proposes extending the powers to any websites that carry the material.
It could ultimately mean that anyone using a website or online forum who posted material infringing copyright would potentially make the site owners liable for a lawsuit, resulting in costly legal proceedings.
Universal, Warner Bros, Viacom, ESPN, ABC, Major League Baseball and the National Football League are among SOPA's key supporters, while Marvel Entertainment and its parent company Disney are also in favour.
Facebook, Google, AOL, Yahoo, Twitter and eBay are among the opposition.
