Slate awards the state of Minnesota "the grand prize in this week's unexpectedly heated competition for most creative use of government to stifle innovation" for telling California-based online education firm Coursera that it is not allowed to offer its free classes to Minnesota residents:
A policy analyst for the state's Office of Higher Education told The Chronicle that Minnesota is simply enforcing a longstanding state law requiring colleges to get the government's permission to offer instruction within its borders....As the Chronicle notes, with admirable restraint, "It's unclear how the law could be enforced when the content is freely available on the Web." And keep in mind, Coursera isn't offering degrees—just free classes.
The Slate article suggests that Minnesotans seeking enlightenment "hit a wifi hotspot in North Dakota on your way back from buying fireworks."
