WASHINGTON, Jan 20: Tens of millions of internet users heaved a sigh of relief on Friday when the US Congress shelved a pair of controversial anti-piracy bills that would have affected web surfers across the globe.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took the first step and announced early Friday that he was cancelling next week's vote on the Protect IP Act, and minutes later, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith said he would shelve the Stop Online Piracy Act.

The Hollywood, concerned about unregulated downloading of its songs and films, backed the bills but America's hi-tech capital, the Silicon Valley, opposed it.

The congressional move to control the internet turned into a direct confrontation between Washington's traditional power brokers, backed by the Hollywood, and the internet users, egged on by hitech giants like Google and Wikipedia who observed an internet blackout on Thursday.

The move blocked all access to Wikipedia while Google users confronted a black patch on their screens as they accessed the search engine.

The web companies were backed by consumer groups across the world who urged users to contact US lawmakers and persuade them to rescind their plan to curb internet freedom.

According to the US media, several million internet users in the United States alone called or met the lawmakers over the last few weeks, expressing their opposition to the proposed bills.

Tens of millions across the world sent emails and message supporting internet freedom.

'This is a fantastic day for the internet, and the internet community at large,' said a Washington-based consumer advocacy group called Public Knowledge after the lawmakers withdrew the bill. 'Today all of your work paid off and the House and Senate finally realised that the process is fatally flawed.

As the fight escalated, it involved scores of powerful players and forced even President Barack Obama to take sides. President Obama, the first US leader to have benefitted from the internet in winning the 2008 election, supported the internet users.

The Hollywood group was led by media giant, Rupert Murdoch.

'So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery,' tweeted Mr Murdoch.