A cosponsor of the Protect IP Act (PIPA) has withdrawn his support of the controversial bill.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida made the announcement on Wednesday on Facebook:
We’ve heard legitimate concerns about the impact the bill could have on access to the Internet and about a potentially unreasonable expansion of the federal government’s power to impact the Internet. … Therefore, 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.
The only other PIPA cosponsor to withdraw support is Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, who did so on June 27, though Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he would no longer support of the bill.
There are still 39 senators cosponsoring the bill, but some Internet users took the news as a sign that their online voices were being heard and making a difference.
In less than two hours, Rubio’s Facebook message has collected than 1,500 likes and 415 comments thanking him for his change of heart.
“Good call Mr. Rubio! Thank you for listening to the PEOPLE and not some rich corporation stuffing your coffers,” wrote James Wimmer.
“A Legislator who actually LISTENS & then RESPONDS. We need more,” wrote Roberta Allen. “Thank you for studying the details & having courage to revise your thinking.”
Photo from Facebook