Congress’s top 5 tech questions for 2012

The impending Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act have the Internet in a tizzy, but Congress has a lot more to think about on the technology front than just intellectual property. Even digging below the surface of the SOPA debate, you see that the issues at play — such as defining Internet borders and squelching innovation on the web — have broad effects that span everything from the digital divide to international commerce.

Here are five questions Congress needs to answer in 2012:

1. Internet or Internets?
2. Who does SOPA really target?
3. Privacy or security?
4. Can we auction off spectrum already?
5. How can we connect rural America?