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Internet users by country world map (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Beyond SOPA: the top nine tech policy stories of 2012 By Timothy B. Lee and Joe Mullin December 27, 2012 Arstechnica The year 2012 started off with one of the most dramatic developments in Internet policy to date: the total implosion of the SOPA/PIPA bills in mid-January. Of all the stories we covered this year, there's little question the outcry over SOPA most changed the debate in Washington . Congressional representatives were deluged by a record public outcry , getting eight million e-mails from regular Internet users within a few days. But 2012 was also the year smartphone patent wars actually hit the courts, making the fight between behemoths Apple vs Samsung another big story.  Also in the list was the courts giving stronger rights to the public to record police activities. Related articles Looking forward: The fight for Internet freedom SOPA dopes At CES, Internet Lobby Gets Rea...

Western Union Entrance (Photo credit: the justified sinner ) Western Union (Photo credit: Tony Fischer Photography ) The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention & Innovation :  " Western Union Telegraph Company Records 1820-1995  by Robert S. Harding and Alison Oswald Archives Center, National Museum of American History , Smithsonian Institution , Washington, D.C ;. archivescenter@si.edu; 202-633-3270; www.americanhistory.si.edu/archives © 2001, second edition, by the Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved." Related articles Smithsonian and ePals Spark!Lab Invent It Contest New Member of the IT History Society Board of Directors

Image via CrunchBase Washington State will enable voter registration via Facebook by Cyrus Farivar Ars Technica July 17, 2012 http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/07/washington-residents-to-be-able-to-register-to-vote-via-facebook/ The State of Washington will become the first state in the nation to offer voter registration via Facebook. In 2008, the Pacific Northwest state became just the second in the union to offer online registration. Today, Washington and 12 other states offer online voter registration. This week, a new Facebook app created by Microsoft (a Washington company, naturally) will provide a new interface to let voters access the on-line MyVote system that they already use, to pull their name and date of birth from their Facebook profile. After that, it operates exactly as it does if they're not in Facebook. Washington hopes to make it as easy as possible for voters to register, and online registration is not only more efficient for voters, but it's chea...