Legislation News

Friday, February 3, 2012

Rep. Markey bill would block medical devices linked to recalls
Rep. Edward Markey and several colleagues earlier this week introduced legislation they claim closes a major loophole in the 510(k) medical device approval process by blocking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of a medical device if it is based on an earlier product that was pulled from the market for causing patients serious harm.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Blog: Apple: ‘SOPA, I am your father!’
Two events that happened completely coincidentally in conjunction over the past two days are connected in one disturbing — and mostly unrecognized — way. The SOPA blackout protests on the web and the Apple Inc. launch of its iBook2 textbook authoring platform.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Reddit's Ohanian to host anti-SOPA telethon
Alexis Ohanian, who co-founded online content aggregator Reddit.com in Medford, will be holding a telethon at 1 p.m. Thursday to "drive constituent phone calls to Congress in opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act."

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Sen. Scott Brown: Crowdfunding legislation aims to aid entrepreneurs with more investors
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown: To bring the SEC up to Internet speed and give Americans a better shot at competing in the global marketplace, I recently filed "crowdfunding" legislation...a new term for an old idea: offering small-dollar investors the chance to invest in new ideas.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Feds to speed up R&D to market; SBIR decision due
President Barack Obama directed federal agencies to step up efforts to commercialize more of the federal government’s $147 billion annual investment in research and development. But the SBIR program, scheduled to expire soon, awaits a decision on Capitol Hill.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Noncompete agreements in Mass. poised for compromise
The all-or-nothing arguments of noncompete agreements in Massachusetts may be moving into gray areas. Calls for compromise included a veiled threat from the Patrick Administration that if a middle ground isn't found that the state could consider "outright elimination of enforceability."

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Blog: Solyndra and the blah, blah, blah syndrome
MHT's James Connolly blogs: Are Obama's opponents latching onto the now-failed solar company Solyndra to advance their own political agenda, which includes opposing anything Obama, anything relating to government spending, and anything having to do with cleantech?

Friday, September 9, 2011

Patent reform bill heads to Obama's desk
The Senate on Thursday passed the first big overhaul of the U.S. patent system in nearly 60 years, sending the bill to President Obama for his signature. The bill, which already had passed the House, cleared the Senate on an 89-9 vote.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Energy legislation: One step at a time
Kathrin Winkler, VP of corporate sustainability, EMC: While we need a comprehensive national clean energy policy, starting with energy use at the individual level not only can reduce consumption on a personal level, but can facilitate a wider conversation about how we use energy, and foster ideas and innovation that could lead to more efficient energy use on a wider and more commercial scale.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Businesses cite financial benefits of greenhouse gas initiative
A consortium of 225 businesses have called upon the New England and Mid-Atlantic states’ governors to increase their support for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), citing the economic benefit to the regions.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

FDA venturing into mobile apps regulation
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is laying the groundwork for oversight of mobile applications that are focused on medicines or health care.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

SBIR R&D program extended; New board targets government waste
Congress has given itself another four months to consider changes in the Small Business Innovation Research program. And, in other Policy Tracker news, President Barack Obama signed an executive order creating a new oversight board to help federal agencies reduce waste and fraud.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Policy Tracker: Extension proposed for SBIR program; DOE gives Early Career Awards to researchers
Congress is likely to extend the Small Business Innovation Research program under current rules for another year rather than make changes in the program. And, in other Policy Tracker news, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded five-year Early Career Awards, all worth at least $150,000, to 67 recipients nationally, including 11 New England researchers.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Embryonic stem cell research funding cleared by appeals court
A federal court of appeals today vacated an injunction that had barred the Obama Administration from lifting the 15-year-old ban on use of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Mass. House votes to repeal gift ban on pharma, med devices
The Massachusetts House of Representatives has voted to overturn the 2008 gift ban that regulates interactions between doctors and medical device and pharmaceutical companies.
Policy Tracker: Greenhouse gas emissions drop; Net neutrality rules overturned by House
Greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. dropped 6.1 percent in 2009 thanks to a decline in fuel and electricity consumption, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. And in other Policy Tracker news, the U.S. House voted 240-179 to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules, which bar Internet service providers from blocking or impeding web traffic.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lawsuit reveals Charles River Ventures' lobby in patent reform
The storied Waltham venture capital firm Charles River Ventures has placed itself at the center of a debate over patent reform, investing in a trio of companies finding new ways to earn money off patents.
Non-compete debate renewed: bootstrapped companies vs. VCs
With noncompete legislation back for another go-round on Beacon Hill, a group of bootstrapped high-tech companies is looking to throw a wrench in the progress of the Boston venture capital industry's darling political cause.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Policy Tracker: Bill would give small firms more R&D funding
Small businesses would get a bigger share of federal research dollars under legislation that appears headed for passage in the Senate. The bill reauthorizes the Small Business Innovation Research program.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Obama touring TechBoston Academy in Dorchester next week
President Barack Obama will visit TechBoston Academy in Dorchester next Tuesday when he is in town for a fundraiser.