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In a Facebook posting today, Florida Senator Marco Rubio withdrew support of the Protect IP Act (PIPA) the Senate's anti-piracy legislation--a bill he had originally co-sponsored. The bill is the Senate's complementary bill to the House's Stop Online Piracy Act (which are two pages that Wikipedia did not black out todayt). At around 10 a.m. Rubio posted his withdrawal of support. "I have a strong interest in stopping online piracy that costs Florida jobs," Rubio (or his team) wrote. "However, we must do this while simultaneously promoting an open, dynamic Internet environment that is ripe for innovation and promotes new technologies." Politico points out a possible repercussion of Rubio's bailing, "Rubio is a high profile senator — and one with a strong national conservative following — so his move could have an impact on the politics of this issue that’s roiling the Internet." Rubio added, "I encourage Senator Reid to abandon his plan to rush the bill to the floor," referring to January 24 (that's less than a week), when the vote on the bill is scheduled.

For Rubio's full letter head on over to his Facebook page.

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