We’re joining our friends at Reddit, Tumblr, Wikipedia, Boing Boing, and Google today in raising awareness of SOPA/PIPA legislation in the US Congress. These bills aim to change the very structure of the internet by allowing corporations and the US government to block access to domain names, and they circumvent the DMCA provisions that have made innovation possible on the web. This includes the Hype Machine, and we stand with the 1000+ tech companies, engineers, and public advocacy groups that have spoken out against the proposed laws.
A vote on PIPA is scheduled for January 24. Read Joi Ito’s great, concise explanation of why SOPA/PIPA must not be allowed to pass, sign the petition, call your representatives, and urge them not to censor the internet.
Comments
115 responses to “SOPA/PIPA and the future of the open web”
SOPA represents everything that is wrong with heavy-handed regulation. The internet is one of our last true bastions of liberty and freedom, and completely free from censorship. The U.S. government cannot regulate the internet. More importantly, the resources quite simply do not exist.
Two words: F**k SOPA.
-Shane w/ Earmilk
no support to sopa
SOPA and PIPA must fail
I am 100% against SOPA and PIPA. I’m not even American or live in the US but these will both have a large negative impact on me and the rest of the world.
yo guys BIG RESPECTS!!! on the website!!! at first i thought it was a bug but now i get it lol bigggg respectsss!!!! screen shots and links of this are all over my fbk and posting them on other djs sites and when i video dj next im gunna throw this up for a bit hahaha you guys rock!
SOPA and PIPA are ill conceived and heavy handed. I do not support them.
Thank you for joining the blackout! This minor inconvenience helps spread the word about this dangerous bill.
I LOVE HYPE M!
I couldn’t imagine a world without free information. This is just another attempting to tap into a yet another money making resource.
Well fuck that!
If SOPA comes to pass, there will be nothing worth while on the Internet. Literally no reason to use it at all. That’s how stupid this legislation is.
Have already written to my local congressman on this matter.
I live in Brazil and I would like to sign the petition, but I’m not being able because of the ZIP code. I want to help.
stand up for your rights. speak up. email, write, call your local representatives. government is trying to control our freedom.
SAY NO TO SOPA !!!
I love HypeM for standing behind what we all believe in. Stop SOPA!
Screwed. No one likes a jerk move. SOPA = Stardard Of Poor Attitudes. PIPA = Party Including Prissy Administrators. Thats pretty much all I got. Take that you turds. Call the reps. This can’t happen.
I love you all!
SOPA will ruin everything music blogs have done for the world of music. Please support this strike and kill the bill.
Ian w/ SkeetBeatz.com
Keep up the good work, Hypemachine, fight the good fight.
Big respects to hypem for trying to raise awareness about this issue.
I’m European, but I’ve been following this matter since November last year.
Since it will not only affect the US, but will have worldwide consequences.
For those complaining about hypem not working.
See it as a foreshadowing if Sopa or Pipa come to pass!
Glad to see you guys have joined the fight. I heart hypem!
Instead of posting worthless comments hypem why don’t you guys write an email to your congressman or call? do something about it.
against it, oppose it, fight it, diminish it
What can we do to make this stupid law stop?
Wherever headquarters of the SOPA are, I WILL OCCUPY THEM!
SOPA is wack. get rid of it. Love HYPEM
Thats a declaration of war
If this site disappeared I don’t know what I would do. I use it to find new and interesting music that I wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to. Please for the love of music stop this bill ….
SOPA </3 fucks up my wowgaming
Can someone at hypem, google, tumblr or one of the other tech companies opposed to the proposed legislation, put up an easy to use list of state representatives & their contact info we can call and email right away.
just a thought.
Obama said he would veto any kind of structural changes to the internet. thats a good sign
How can non-Americans who will be affected by this legislation fight against it?
NO TO THESE CRIMINAL INTENTIONS
Support from France, keep up the fight !!
my favorite webside LOve Music !! #notsopa
que porqueria!!!
Right on. I’m glad to see The Hype Machine joining today’s forceful demonstration against these un-American pieces of legislation. Fellow listeners, head to Wikipedia and use their tool to find your Congressperson’s contact info and let them know by e-mail or phone that you stand against SOPA (House version) and PIPA (Senate version).
It’s all based on the backing of corperations who pay their “talent” millions, pay those guys less and you wont lose money.
Yes!!! This is outrageous, we gotta fight this shit back!
SOPA/PIPA c’est de la chiasse!
FOR A FREE WORLD!
appreciate you raising awareness, in style
Couldn’t live without the Hype Machine. Down with SOPERS!
agreed. cannot live without the hype machine
Awesome blackout. Too bad nobody knows what to do with this information!
CALL YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES!
SIGN A PETITION!
STOP SOPA IN ITS TRACKS!
well said Pooch…it’s so much more then what it appears to be
Sign the petition!
Nobody owns the internet
super creative and cool way to raise awareness of the bills… !! i love hypem even more for this move
These bills set a very dangerous precedent for all of us down the road. Everyone who cares at all about their freedoms should call their congressional representatives and tell them not to vote on this bill if they value re-election.
Don’t take our music from us!
Stop SOPA!
Thank you for joining the fight hypem. Today’s blackout is really going to show the average person how bad our favourite sites can and will be affected by SOPA/PIPA if they are passed
SOPA/PIPA no thanks.
The Internet community is an example of the goals we can achieve together, we’ll make it happen, NO SOPA, Internet is freedom.
sopa / pipa no thank ya
Go to wikipedia, they can take your zip code and give you all your representative’s twitter id’s. Let them know you want what little freedom we have left, and you want representation!
We do not want to move back in time. The SOPA/PIPA movement is setting in restrictions that will clearly restrict our online growth. Look at all we have achieved since the inception of the Internet. Let’s not turn back time.
Fight back.
Ahhh! I knew Reddit would be out, but now HM? Yeah… not digging these limits. I can only hope the men WE ELECTED in congress make the right decision.
YES! I Love you even more knowing that you are against SOPA/PIPA! Any ass against it is just a spoil’t little bitch that can’t live without internetz or music for a day. GROW A SET AND LEARN TO STAND UP FOR YOUR DAMN FREEDOMS!
Way to support the blackout! Eff SOPA/PIPA! all this legislation is, is a step toward the big brother. the governments need to regulate anything and everything. SUPPORT BLACKOUT and Fight Back.
Fucka you soap !
Fuckin auto spell!
This policy shift will negatively impact the creativity and freedom of current and future generations in a profound way. Please do not pass SOPA/PIPA.
Father to be,
Aaron.
This legislation cannot be allowed to go through, call your senators and make sure they know what we want them to do, post to your friends and make sure they are aware of what is going on. This will effect everyone if it is allowed to pass. The vote is on January 24th 2012
haha, take away their freedom (NDAA) Sit still, no wories. Take away their source of free entertainment aka the internet. Rage and panic, you americans are the best… /sarcasm
If this passes this is the end of the FREE internet as we know it. It’s the end of open communication and sharing. It’s the end of an era. Please don’t pass SOPA!!
Wow. You’ve only been down for a few hours and I’m already missing you. 🙁
You should unblock us Canadians. We have nothing to do with SOPA. 🙂
All the best.
Great to see Citizen action. Please call your Congressmen today!
The Only sopa I like is Sopa de Fideo or Sopa de Clam Chowder.
NO SOPA, NO!
It would be great if all the people on here would have articulated their thoughts about SOPA/PIPA without all that cursing; it kind of makes us sound like a bunch of juveniles. However, I agree and I disapprove of SOPA. The Internet is currently a source of unlimited inspiration and passing this law will stagnate the growth of the US nation and, ultimately, the entire world. What kind of leaders wish for the stagnation of their nation? PLEASE VOTE THEM OUT NEXT ELECTION, AMERICANS!
And way to go all, for protesting censorship!!
SOPA/PIPA is going to ruin the freedom of the internet as we know it!!! I hope that the major websites come together and make a large stand or blackout text like you have. seeing a google search return nothing but black text on the screen would be extremely impacting to anyone viewing. This is just another effort put in place by the government to mass control the society and maintain a system that is evolving faster then them!!!!
SOPA/PIPA will fail.
SOPA will hurt the efforts of many but in particular musicians like the ones on hype machine who are trying to make a name for themselves in this wonderful corner of the internet. I use hype machine daily in order to find new and exciting music from up and coming artists, and without this site… I dont know what I would do! as a writer for independent music, not only would SOPA hurt musicians, but me as well! people’s lives and livelihoods depend on the free/un-moderated use of the internet… FUCK SOPA!
Aside from porn this the only other site I like…. please dear internet gods, don’t take this away!
Full support to the Internet freedom !
Emailed my congressmen/women!! This is blasphemy!
I live half way around the globe, in Australia, and I do NOT see why US congress should impinge upon my civil liberties here.
It is all good socking it to these a holes but the way your handling your website (hypem.com) is lame and inappropriate. Surely there are ways of getting the point across without pissing off customers.
These comments contain so much poor grammar and bad spelling. It almost makes me wish SOPA/PIPA would pass so people would stop using the internet and read more books.
My own comment aside, if SOPA passes, the most important reason the internet exists would go away. That reason of course is free pornography. And with no free pornography, there is no internet.
Just think about what’s important. Stop SOPA/PIPA and similar legislation in your country.
Thank you HypeM for supporting this blackout!
We should invade America
Devastating! Say No to SOPA and PIPA
this website is my life. I go on it everyday to get music. DO NOT TOUCH THIS SITE
Way to go HypeM. Fight the power, join arms and defeat this attack on the internet as we know it. Stay strong.
i hope sopa/pipa fail
Hypem is an incredible marketing tool that has exposed many of us to indie artists who we would have otherwise, not discovered. This website is my source for discovering music that is, unfortunately, not mainstream in the US.
To “Hater”- you’re the “piece of shit”, clearly. Stereotyping every American? Who do you think YOU are? Open your mind. Ignorance.
Hype Machine helped save and change my life. The way i looked at music, opening doors to new sources of music i was-at the time-unaware of. One of the coolest people i’ve ever met is a tech for hypem. The most respect out to you guys, and screw these suits who are trying to shut you down!
I love hype machine
LONG LIVE HYPE MACHINE !!!!!!
Hype against the machine, but not my hype machine!
hype machine > SOPA
Hey everyone, if you’re American and LOOKING TO FIGHT THE SOPA/PIPA :
Go to Wikipedia, the English version (which is blacked out just as HypeM is), and it will re-direct you to a page where you can type in your zip code to find representatives in your area.
As for non-americans, i’m really sorry, I wish I knew a way for you to help. But keep looking, there might be a way !
Fight For Freedom ! <3
SOPA denounces the very thing our country is built on, FREEDOM
SOPA must not be allowed to be passed!
Hypem must live forever, this site contains great information and its kind a tool for the communication between worlds. And let people arrange his favorite songs. Dont close it, let the internet live. Long life for the E + Hypem
CONTACT YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND TELL HIM VOTE NO. DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS AGAINT OUR RIGHTS, DAMN THE MAN!
hypem is an amazing creation that started with the work of many creative and intelligent people who had a dream, a goal. Hypem is an inspirational way for people to get their music known, a way to express their talents. thank you SOPA for trying to destroy that and crushing the dreams of many optimistic people. we are not impressed.
“Those who make peaceful protest impossible make violent protest inevitable.” – JFK
DROP SOPA SO WE CAN DROP BEATS
This is me showing my support. SOPA and PIPA must be stopped. This will greatly decrease our welfare and slow economic growth. This regulation is far too strict and will do much more bad than good.
Not only in the states… but AUS too! This blows!
SOPA and PIPA must fail! I DO NOT SUPPORT EITHER OF THE TWO.
No a la Ley Sopa
Hey guys of Hypem! GREAT WORK joining the Blackout to #StopSOPA.
The internetz lol belong to us the people, not to greedy corporations!
xx
Luv, laurie
Please don’t censor the web. Once you start you won’t know to what extent it can be misruled or unconstitutionally censored. It will take away from my understanding of the world and its people, culture, and creativity.
SAY NO TO SOPA!
DON’T LET THE GOVERNMENT TAKE YOUR FREEDOM AWAY!!!!
What can I do as one Canadian to make any sort of a difference in this fight? Sopa hurts us all!
No mas SOPA es irracional y poco convincente limita nuestra libertad!!!
STOP SOPA !!! SOPA Slow down our freedom and growth!!
If you havent signed the petition to stop SOPA. Sign it now!!!
http://avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/?fp
This bill proves that Washington does not understand the internet or the future of commerce. Please don’t embarrass the US government and bring us that much closer to the policies of China and Iran…please.
NO TO SOPA!!! YES TO FREEDOM!!!
SOPA and PIPA will basically destroy the internet as we know it. Censoring the internet will not stop piracy, but it will destroy a whole lot more.
FUCK SOPA AND PIPA!!!
SOPA? PIPA? Come on, go home!
The fact that the government can be lobbied by cash stuffed corporations in the first place is what’s wrong with our world. Furthermore the point to remove public forum in it’s most raw sense; ie the internet is for Control and their own self preservation.
I truly believe our(any) government should be internet based, allow voting to commence online and get TRUE results from a real audience.
Boycott the Giants, watch them fall.
Peace and Love folks.