TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

By T.C. Sottek, The Verge

“Senator Al Franken (D-MN), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, plans to debate legislation that would require companies to obtain express consent from users before collecting, obtaining, or sharing the location data from mobile phones.  The Location Privacy Protection Act of 2012 would require location data handlers to disclose what information is collected and inform users about how to “revoke consent” for data collection and sharing.

In a statement provided by his office, Senator Franken warned of ubiquitous “personal tracking devices” and said that “the law allows companies to collect and disclose our location information without our knowledge and consent.” In the senator’s fact sheet about the bill, privacy issues with the iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7 are all specifically named.”

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By Leena Rao, TechCrunch

“Score one for the small guys. Startup TechForward just won a huge lawsuit against electronics retailer Best Buy over misappropriated trade secrets. The judge has awarded TechForward $22 million in damages, as well as another $5 million in punitive damages.

Here’s the background. In 2009, Best Buy and TechForward, which has raised money from First Round Capital and NEA, engaged in a trial program of TechForward’s Guaranteed Buyback Plan in a number of Best Buy Stores. TechForward has done similar deals with other big-name retailers as well.”

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By Candace Renalls, Duluth News Tribune

“Two weeks before Duluth-based 50 Below filed for bankruptcy in August, it signed an agreement with a Maryland-based company [SecureNet] to process its credit and debit card transactions.

Now the company wants out. And 50 Below and its court-appointed trustee are suing the company to stop them. 50 Below, one of Duluth’s largest technology employers, is still operating as Chapter 11 proceedings move through U.S. Bankruptcy Court.”

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By Katharine Mangan, Chronicle of Higher Education

“Coursera offers free, online courses to people around the world, but if you live in Minnesota, company officials are urging you to log off or head for the border.

The state’s Office of Higher Education has informed the popular provider of massive open online courses, or MOOC’s, that Coursera is unwelcome in the state because it never got permission to operate there. It’s unclear how the law could be enforced when the content is freely available on the Web, but Coursera updated its Terms of Service to include the following caution:“

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By Jim Hammerand, Minneapolis-St.Paul Business Journal

“Federal regulators on Friday charged former Digi International Inc. CFO Subramanian “Kris” Krishnan, now the CFO of the National Marrow Donor Program, with securities fraud.

Krishnan, 58, resigned from Minnetonka-based Digi (Nasdaq: DGII) in 2010 during a probe into alleged violations of the company’s gifts, travel and entertainment policy in the Asia Pacific region by “a few employees,” whom the company did not identify. Digi was not charged in that investigation.”

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By Nataleeya Boss, Twin Cities Business

“A competitor is accusing Chanhassen-based telehealth products and services provider Cardiocom, LLC, of patent infringement, but the company on Monday denied any wrongdoing.

Palo Alto, California-based Robert Bosch Healthcare Systems, Inc., filed a lawsuit last week, alleging that the Cardiocom Telehealth system, a remote health monitoring system, infringes on six of its patents, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court in California.”

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By Jim Hammerand, Minneapolis-St.Paul Business Journal

“The Minnesota Court of Appeals has overruled a court order prohibiting a controversial AT&T cellphone tower near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.”

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By Chris Newmarker, Finance and Commerce

“MINNEAPOLIS, MN — In vetoing the Republican-controlled Legislature’s property tax bill, Gov. Mark Dayton ended up rejecting many other measures supported by the economic development community.

An angel tax credit extension, a sales tax break on business equipment purchases and expanded tax breaks for new data centers were among the casualties.”

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In spring of 2010, the Minnesota legislature passed a historic bill aimed at spurring early-stage investment in Minnesota startups through a 25% refundable tax credit for qualified investments in qualified companies.

With $60m budgeted over 5 years, the  “Angel Investor Tax Credit” (AITC) allocated up to $11 million in credits for 2010, with $12 million in annual credits for 2011 through 2014, and a sunset scheduled Jan 1, 2015.

“We’ve passed the baton onto you,” Sen. Kathy Saltzman (D-Woodbury) said at the time, referring to the entrepreneurs and investors who rallied for the cause.  And use it they did.

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By Al Franken

“As you may know, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has decided not to bring the PROTECT IP Act (the Senate’s version of SOPA) up for a vote next week.

And since I’ve heard from many of you about this issue, I wanted to take a moment to share why I support copyright protection legislation — as well as why I believe holding off on this bill is the right thing to do.”

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