Through the CSIA and their relationship with the Governor’s office, we have learned that not only is the house committee trying to fast track the vote on the legislation (they are voting early this week!), but also that its effective date has been accelerated to March 1 instead of July 1.

To make matters worse, the committee and Governor’s office have yet to share the specific language of the bill with the public.What we know is on the table are additional taxes on electronic downloads, SaaS-sold software, custom software development, and even “IT services” (as vague as that is).

The CSIA has estimated that this will likely add an 8-10 percent tax burden to all software purchases across the state.Technology companies and professionals in Colorado already spend 1 to 2 billion dollars in taxes a year, and this new tax would only deepen that burden.

As the majority owner of a small software development company, I would like to make it clear to the house committee that if this proposal is passed, companies will flee the state.Unlike most other industries, software development can be done from anywhere in the world, and team members can collaborate across continents.Realizing this, it should also be understood that to attract software companies to your state and city, you must provide an environment that attracts them.This is indeed what has been happening across our state, even in the midst of the recession, Boulder especially.

Boulder is a hot bed of tech startups.According to a Business Week analysis, Boulder came in first in a list of “Top Small Cities for Startups”, citing 5.5 startups per 1000 inhabitants.There are a lot of small cities around this nation that would love to claim this mantle, and while the Boulder culture is well suited to the startup lifestyle and we who live in both Denver and Boulder love to live and work here, that is not powerful enough to fight the sheer economics of the situation.If I’m put into the situation where it is either move out of town or close shop on Planet Telex, I’ll be moving- and I’d wager most small companies are in the same boat.

The 5500 technology companies employing over 175,000 people in Colorado are a major reason why Colorado has only 7.5% unemployment right now as opposed to the national average of 10%.I can’t believe that those in governance want to jeopardize that right now.2009 was a tough year for most of us, and while I’ve been optimistic about 2010, it is clear to me that the industry is still not at pre-recession levels, and many of us are still struggling.This proposal does nothing less than kicks us while we’re down.It will hurt my company, it will hurt many other small companies in Colorado, it will deter new companies from moving to Colorado, and will ultimately hurt the future development in this state.

The CSIA is working with several law firms and lobbyists to fight this new measure, but that effort needs support from the industry.To that end, I encourage anyone who will be affected by this new legislation to call or email the house committee representatives and voice their dissent.Below are phone numbers and email addresses of key people on the House Committee and the Governor’s office.Urgent action is needed; remember they might vote as early as today.

House Committee Representatives:

Governor Ritter’s office:303-866-2471

– Update 3:10PM –

The measure is HB 1192 and is being lumped together with twelve other exemption/credit reversals in an effort by the governor’s office to rush this through legislation. It will be voted on Wednesday, Jan. 27th.

– Update Jan. 28th –

Bad news, HB 1192 advanced this morning, 6 voting for, 5 against.  It is scheduled to be heard before the House tomorrow.  There is still time to voice your opposition though, call or email the representatives today, you can see a list of ALL members of the house here.

The new tax regulations will mean that:

• Data centers will have to collect tax from all of its customers that had “users” with access to the SaaS system located in Colorado.
• Charges to customize “base software” could be taxable if not separately stated from the overall purchase of software.
• Taxable software would include all prewritten updates/upgrades.  If these charges are not separately stated from a maintenance fee, the full charge for maintenance and update becomes taxable.

Not to mention that this is a NEW TAX that we, the people, CANNOT VOTE ON.  This is a violation of our state constitution (the TABOR amendment).  So,this is an illegal tax that will drive jobs out of our state.

Let’s start with the fact that Planet Telex has developed and released its first major product, the jNet Menu System.Along with a few other free products, the jNet Menu System is available in our new online store, store.planettelex.net.These are two major milestones for us, and we are quite proud of our product, which we believe it to be the best menu system on the market.We built it because we had no other choice. We have bought several others in the past and have been disappointed.Having crafted a solution that can fit any desired implementation in an elegant,SEO friendly way,we are excited to share it with the world.If you need a menu system for ASP.NET or DotNetNuke, check out the jNet Menu System- you won’t find a better system on the market.I know, I’ve tried.

The process of bringing the jNet Menu System to market has given me a deep appreciation for what it takes to bring any product to market, software or otherwise.The code was largely done a few months ago, unit tests and all.Then we needed to create demos, write technical documentation, write marketing materials, figure out our licensing model, write a EULA, figure out support procedures and options, create a new merchant account, determine pricing, create graphics, in addition to building and integrating the storefront.And we have only begun thinking about our marketing strategy in any detail.Suffice to say; bringing a product to market, even one as simple as a menu system, takes a lot of effort, and I have newfound respect for anyone who manages the feat.

Besides jNet Menu System and the store, another event that marks this as a new era for Planet Telex is the press coverage we have received due to our Microsoft Surface computer.Last week, we were at the CSIA’s DEMOGala and I was interviewed by Channel 9 News.Tomorrow we head back down to the convention center for STEMapalooza, an event to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to students grades K-12.These are subjects near and dear to my heart, and I can’t say how pleased we are for the opportunity to help inspire kids to excel in these fields.What’s more, Laura and I have discussed at length about potential applications for large multi-touch devices in schools, and are excited to talk with educators and hear their ideas.

I was asked several times at DEMOGala how the Surface (or multi-touch in general) fits into a web design company’s growth strategy.In reply, I first must dispel the notion that Planet Telex has ever been limited to simply the web.We are a software design and development company.It just so happens that most software worth developing is web software.In today’s world though, I think it makes less and less sense to separate web software development from other software development.Most applications made today, if not built on a web platform, still make judicious use of the internet and internet protocols.Simply put, every app is a web app.

That said, I want to emphasize that the focus of Planet Telex is, and has always been, human-computer interaction.We pride ourselves on building excellent interfaces, web-based or otherwise.In that context, developing for the Surface is the next logical step for our company as it represents a new, more intuitive way for humans to interact with the computer.In addition to our Surface, Planet Telex will be the first vendor in Colorado to offer a FlatFrog multi-touch device, a new flat panel multi-touch device hitting the market next month.We will not limit ourselves to one type of large multi-touch device, as each has benefits and limitations that must be considered before the right solution to a given situation is determined.

So have we developed anything for the Surface yet?Yup, we have just finished version one of our new Surface product, inTouch UI for Microsoft Surface.We have developed this app based on the needs of the Four Seasons Sales Center here in Denver. A prospective buyer at the sales center will be able to look at floor plans, drag the ones they like into a target area, and fill out a form with the basic lead information.It will launch at the sales center at 1080 14^th St. Denver, CO 80202 this month.This will be the flagship location in several sales centers in both the U.S. and Canada that have expressed interest in the software.Like the jNet Menu, inTouch UI for Microsoft Surface is pretty limited in scope, but it served as the perfect starting point in what we hope will be a long line of multi-touch applications.

Finally, as if all the above weren’t enough to keep me busy, I want to announce that Dan and I are starting a new company, Twitterep. Twitterep is a new way to advertise using Twitter that is more credible and not prone to spam.

Phew.If you are read this far, hopefully you are interested in one or more of these products.I appreciate any sort of feedback regarding any of them.Besides the comments area of this blog, you can send an inquiry to Planet Telex here, or contact me via my Twitter account: @robdixoniii.