TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

By Thomas Lee, Star Tribune

“With the U.S. Senate poised to pass a bill to allow the collection of online sales taxes, mega-retailers such as Best Buy Co. and Target Corp. are close to a legislative dream they have pursued for decades.

Only one problem: the issue might not matter as much anymore. Best Buy and Target, both based in Minnesota, have long argued that Internet giants like Amazon and eBay can unfairly offer lower prices because states do not require them to collect sales taxes. The federal legislation, called the Marketplace Fairness Act, authorizes states to require online retailers to collect the tax.”

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Via News Release

“Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison released the following statement after voting against the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) (H.R.624):

“The threat of cyber-attack is real. As we have seen repeatedly, both public and private networks are under constant threat, and Congress has a responsibility to address these threats.

“However, CISPA in its current form would violate Americans’ fundamental right to privacy. I join the White House and Members of the House Intelligence Committee in opposing the legislation.”

[Yea votes: Kline, Paulsen, Peterson; Nay votes: Nolan, Ellison, McCollum, Walz; No vote: Bachmann]

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By Chloe Albanesius, PC Mag

“One day after the White House called on Congress to make cell phone unlocking legal, a Minnesota senator today announced plans for legislation that would allow the practice.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said she will introduce a bill this week that would allow for cell phone unlocking.

“Consumers should be free to choose the phone and service that best fits their needs and their budgets,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “I will continue to work to advance commonsense measures to protect consumers and promote competition.”

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By Mila Koumpilova, St. Paul Pioneer Press

“St. Paul schools Superintendent Valeria Silva has glimpsed the “future of education”: a re-imagined school district where students can learn 24/7 and set their own pace in the classroom.

She is asking taxpayers this fall to chip in an extra $9 million a year for St. Paul’s schools. It will pay for a technology-powered overhaul that she says will revolutionize learning.”

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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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