As you probably know by now—thanks either to the widespread media coverage or a failed Internet search this morning—Wikipedia and several other websites instituted a 24-hour blackout today in protest of two anti-piracy bills under consideration in Congress. Critics of the Stop Online Piracy Act (in the House) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (in the Senate) say the bills threaten Internet freedom in the U.S.
The blackout came as a surprise to many Wikipedia-dependent teachers, and some of them—and their students—took to Twitter to complain, according to Gawker contributor Katie Notopolous. Here are some of the amusing tweets Notopolous unearthed:
• "Also on an unrelated note, went to get my 'notes' to teach today, realized Wikipedia went dark today... #totesoutofluck #wingingit"
• "How am I supposed to learn what I have to teach with #Wikipedia shut down?"
• "Arrghhh, I'm in middle of lesson planning and can't access Wikipedia! #wikipediablackout! Show your support heretinyurl.com/7vq4o8g"
• "The awkwardly hilarious moment when your idiotic teacher can't do half his lesson because Wikipedia is down, and he had no clue."
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