SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4News) - A planned blackout by major U.S. websites was held on Wednesday in protest of two controversial bills before Congress.
The bills aim to end internet piracy, but several people in Utah and around the country are upset, saying the proposals could threaten the future and freedom of the Internet.
Approximately 7,000 websites, including Wikipedia shut down for the day, except for messages declaring disdain for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).
Illegal downloading has always been battle between web surfers and companies that claim people are stealing.
Users say that's just the beauty of the internet.
Intenet user Cameron Grey said, “Freedom of information exchange is a very important thing.”
Wikipedia, Reddit and a host of other sites planned to go dark for 24 hours Wednesday in an online protest of the bills aimed at stopping the illegal downloading of movies, music or writing.
On Tuesday night, local Salt Lake musician Maht Paulos, said, “Tomorrow, if I go and I can't check Wikipedia, that changes my day quite a bit.”
Google and Twitter aren't joining the blackout, but they're against the bills and showed their support of the movement through different messages. Google placed a strip of black tape over the logo on their pages.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff disagrees with the protestors.
He says bootlegging music and videos are costing entertainment companies big bucks and a crackdown is long overdue.
When it comes to illegal downloading, Grey said, “People do it all the time.”
Paulos says piracy isn't always a bad thing for ups and coming musicians like himself. “I would love for people to download illegally because that's one of the only ways you can break through.”
While major websites don't want to be punished for linking users to pirated content, many users say SOPA and PIPA are a push toward Internet censorship.
“A limit on information is…questionable,” said Grey.
President Obama has said that he doesn't agree with the bills, but Congress could vote as early as next week on one of them.
