[ti:Websites Cut Service to Protest US Antipiracy Bills] [ar:Mario Ritter] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English Economics Report. [00:05.96]Some popular websites have protested [00:09.34]two proposed United States laws [00:12.10]aimed at fighting illegal copying of writing, [00:15.73]movies and other intellectual property on the Internet. [00:20.58]Wednesday, Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, [00:25.82]blacked out its English language website [00:29.11]for twenty-four hours. [00:31.31]Jay Walsh is head of communications [00:34.20]for the Wikimedia Foundation which operates Wikipedia. [00:39.92]JAY WALSH: "It is detrimental to the free and open web. [00:42.38]It is detrimental to Wikipedia. [00:43.52]And we want to make sure that we send a message." [00:46.58]The blogging site Boing Boing [00:48.99]and Social news website Reddit also went black. [00:53.97]Erik Martin is General Manager of Reddit. [00:57.57]ERIK MARTIN: "This is a really big deal [00:58.80]and this is something we're going to fight, [00:59.93]and this is something we think threatens the entire tech sector." [01:03.03]Both Wikipedia and Reddit urged users [01:06.22]to contact their Congressional representative to oppose the law. [01:11.05]Even Internet search leader Google protested, [01:15.05]although it continued to provide service. [01:18.40]The Stop Online Piracy Act [01:22.13]and the Protect Intellectual Property Act [01:25.63]are known as SOPA and PIPA for short. [01:29.51]Supporters say they are a way to fight foreign websites [01:34.81]that sell pirated copies of American movies and music. [01:40.24]Steven Tepp is a lawyer with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. [01:45.32]He says piracy of books, music, movies [01:49.87]and other forms of intellectual property [01:53.01]hurt the economy and threaten jobs. [01:56.12]But many online businesses like blogs, [02:00.04]news sites and search engines say [02:03.38]the laws force them to become censors. [02:06.90]David Smith is with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. [02:12.49]He says the proposed laws would hurt Wikipedia [02:16.94]and other sites that depend on material provided [02:21.63]by people who use the sites. [02:24.34]He says websites would be required [02:27.79]to police all the material they carry. [02:31.48]DAVID SMITH: "It creates a legal situation [02:33.22]in which a complainant can go before a judge and get an order, [02:39.32]and it then makes the various Internet companies, [02:42.66]the Internet service providers, responsible for what they're carrying. [02:46.11]And, this is where the rub (problem) comes, [02:50.64]because it basically turns the Internet service provider into a monitor." [02:54.22]The House and Senate are expected to work on the bills [02:57.58]in the coming weeks. [02:58.87]But after the online protests, some lawmakers [03:03.27]have already said they have doubts about the bill. [03:07.06]Republican Senator Marco Rubio [03:10.77]urged lawmakers to take more time to consider [03:14.66]the concerns of both supporters and opponents of the bills. [03:19.91]Obama administration spokesman John Carney said [03:24.39]the president opposes any law [03:26.76]that hurts freedom of expression or security. [03:30.95]On Wednesday, Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner [03:35.79]admitted there is now a lack of agreement among lawmakers on the bills. [03:41.72]And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. [03:46.72]Get transcripts and mp3s of our reports at 51voa.com. [03:53.65]I'm Mario Ritter.