Maher defends SOPA, calls piracy 'Caucasian looting'

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) maybe placed on the back burner for the moment. But that didn't stop Bill Maher from providing support for future "anti-piracy" bills Friday evening.

Maher explained that his view is based on illegal copies of his 2008 movie Religulous being downloaded online, calling concerns about SOPA and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) "a red herring."

"Somebody has to bring up that there is a moral dimension to this, that this isn't brought up enough," he said. "People just want to steal because they can. I call it Caucasian looting. And just because you're sitting at your computer in your pajama bottoms doesn't mean you're not stealing."

Maher, who admitted he hasn't read any of the anti-piracy bills, faced strong disagreement from panel guests Bobby Roemer, Jennifer Granholm, and conservative columnist Matt Lewis.

"This bill managed the internet and took the most creative part of our economic world, the Internet, and tried to manage it from Washington D.C," Roemer said. "It's a mistake."

Granholm added: "They need to deal with this with a scalpel and not an ax."

WATCH: Video from HBO, which was broadcast on January 20, 2012.