TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

By Camella Mendez (updated 1/21 with quote from Senator Klobuchar)

Yesterday’s ‘SOPA blackout’ was cause enough to close the curtains on major websites like Wikipedia, Reddit and Boing Boing for extended periods of time — up to 24 hours in some cases. Google, craigslist, Mozilla and many others leveraged their reach to inform the masses of congress’ radical plans to legislate, control and censor the global Internet in name of piracy.

But the heightened awareness – or lack thereof – failed to reach Minnesota’s own Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar who are co-sponsoring SOPA’s sister bill, PIPA. Though SOPA has been halted in the House (for now), PIPA is still alive and has the ability to inflict a crippling blow to Minnesota’s startup community if passed on January 24th.

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Via News Release

“The Minnesota Science & Technology Authority (MnSTA) has awarded a $129,000 grant to the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) to administer internships for 40 college students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines under a new program called SciTechsperience.

“The Minnesota High Tech Association’s experience in working with science and technology initiatives makes it a wonderful partner to implement SciTechsperience,” said Betsy Lulfs, executive director of the Minnesota Science and Technology Authority. “We are excited to be working with them on this new opportunity to retain Minnesota’s young talent.”

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By Tom Sheck, MPR News

“State lawmakers are considering a bill to require all Internet retailers to pay sales tax in Minnesota.  Members of the Senate Taxes Committee heard testimony from supporters and opponents of the measure Wednesday.

Several companies, including Best Buy, argue the tax is needed for a level playing field.  Ward Einess, who represents Best Buy, says his company wants internet retailers to meet the same standard that his company meets.”

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By Nate Anderson, Ars Technica

“Since winning election to the US Senate in 2008, Al Franken (D-MN) has become one of that chamber’s top net neutrality defenders. With the House uninterested in compromise on the issue, the real push to gut the FCC’s existing net neutrality order will take place this year in the Senate.

Last week, Franken and three other senators drafted a letter in which they blasted the House for trying to “defund” the FCC’s net neutrality enforcement. House Republicans “claim to stand for freedom,” the letter says. “But the only freedom they are providing for is the freedom of telephone and cable companies to determine the future of the Internet, where you can go on it, what you can attach to it, and which services will win or lose on it.”

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By Joe Kimball, MinnPost

“U.S. Sen. Al Franken gets a plum new post: He was named today as the chair of the newly created Senate Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.  It’s part of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Chairman Patrick Leahy announced the subcommittee and named Franken its head.

The subcommittee mandate includes “laws and policies governing the collection, protection, use, and dissemination of commercial information by the private sector, including online behavioral advertising; privacy within social networking websites and other online privacy issues.”"

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Via News Release

“Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Scott Brown (R-MA) today introduced bipartisan legislation that would help revitalize America’s innovative edge and ability to compete in the global economy. The Innovate America Act would cut red tape to help businesses utilize research and development for new products, target successful education programs, and promote U.S. exports in new markets to strengthen America’s ability to innovate and compete in the global economy.”

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In spring of 2010, our legislature created the Minnesota Science & Technology Authority to establish “an agency of innovation” in response to the growing sentiment that Minnesota has lost its competitive edge.

With the stated mission to “promote a business climate that fosters lasting and inclusive prosperity through the growth of innovation-based businesses and jobs,” three distinct goals were established by the advisory committee:

1) Accelerate Minnesota’s ability to turn new discoveries and technologies into commercial products and services.

2) Foster the start-up and success of new high-growth companies in the state.

3) Enhance the ability for our existing industries to remain competitive and be leaders in their market.

After six months of research and analysis, the authority publicly released this week a detailed 31 page report turned “strategic roadmap for getting back on our entrepreneurial feet and building competitive companies throughout the state.”  If you or someone you know has a vested interest in the future of Minnesota’s high tech ecosystem, this required reading will shape our high tech economy for years to come.

From the intro:

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By Ann Treacy,

Last week the Blandin Foundation held their annual broadband conference Broadband 2010: Cultivating a Culture of Use.

The 130 attendees included partners in Blandin’s ARRA-funded broadband adoption project (Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities), other ARRA fund recipients, service providers, policy-makers and community leaders. I was struck by the caliber of questions attendees asked. When it comes to broadband, we’re no longer asking: what it is or who’s going to do it; we’re asking: how to deploy and encourage broadband adoption.

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Via News Release,

“The following questions for the three major-party candidates were jointly prepared by the BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota, LifeScience Alley, Minnesota High Tech Association and MN Nano — for educational purposes only; there will not be an endorsement forthcoming.

Issues were presented for candidate consideration in four categories: economic development, workforce/education, infrastructure and business environment. This is additional information as you consider which candidate(s) are best-suited to provide public-sector leadership to retain and grow Minnesota’s science and technology industries.”

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