Marco Rubio Withdraws Support For PROTECT IP Act

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Florida Senator Marco Rubio withdrew his support for the Protect IP Act in the Senate today, the counterpart to SOPA, or Stop online Piracy Act. In a statement, Rubio said he first decided to support PROTECT IP Act to protect American interests from overseas pirating, mainly from China.  After hearing “legitimate concerns” about the legislation, Rubio said:

I have decided to withdraw my support for the Protect IP Act. Furthermore, I encourage Senator Reid to abandon his plan to rush the bill to the floor. Instead, we should take more time to address the concerns raised by all sides, and come up with new legislation that addresses Internet piracy while protecting free and open access to the Internet.