The DMA says the law constitutes an "unprecedented invasion of consumer privacy," and also unfairly discriminates against interstate commerce because the law is targeted at only out-of-state retailers.

"The new law and the regulations implementing it are an unconstitutional and blatant violation of Colorado consumers’ privacy," said Jerry Cerasale, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, DMA.

"The law may have been passed in the hope of balancing the state budget through increased use tax reporting by Colorado residents, but it has serious adverse consequences for consumers and businesses."

The DMA suit says the law and regulations violate both the United States Constitution and the Colorado Constitution.

"Retailers that have no office, store, property, employees or other physical presence in Colorado are not obligated under Colorado law, and are protected by the commerce clause of the United States Constitution from being required to collect Colorado sales tax on retail sales to Colorado consumers," the lawsuit says.
 

"These state-wide agreements enable schools and districts to benefit from centralized resources such as deployment support and training materials, paving the way for an easy transition to Google Apps—including Gmail, Docs, Sites, Calendar, Video, and Groups—in their classrooms, immediately," says Google Apps Education Manager Jaime Casap.

Colarado Governor Bill Ritter had this to say: "I’m pleased to see the Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) continue its tradition of bringing innovative tools to members of the Colorado public. By leveraging the Internet, educators are able to bring new ways of learning to the classroom and connect with students in exciting and challenging ways."

Google has also announced the extension of its free Google Message Security service to K-12 institutions, as well as a new training solution.

This includes a free online training center, a set of qualification exams for teachers, and a Certified Trainer and Partner program.

The campaign is called "Snow At First Sight" and it invites participants to submit a 60 second video to the Snow At First Sight website explaining why they have never seen snow and why they should get a three month all-expense-paid trip to Colorado.

People who submit a video are encouraged to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to spread the word about their entry. Half of the winners will be chosen based on audience voting while the other five semi-finalists will be selected by a panel in Colorado.

The three winners will spend January through March 2010 in the state and will be given $800 monthly along with all expenses paid.

The winners will be taught by local experts how to ski, snowboard, snowmobile and snowshoe.

In addition, the three winners are required to submit content for a blog, social network and photo/video postings.
 

Davidson’s body was found at his wife’s former home in Bennett, Colorado.

Davidson also shot and killed his wife along with his three-year-old daughter. His 7-month old son was found unharmed strapped in a baby seat of an SUV. Davidson’s 14-year old daughter was wounded in the neck but was able to run to a neighbor’s house for help.

His wounded daughter was able to tell police what had happened before being taken to the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver for treatment. The infant was taken to the Children’s Hospital in Aurora to be examined.

"What a nightmare, and such a coward," U.S. Attorney Troy Eid told the Rocky Mountain News. "Davidson imposed the death penalty on family members for his own crime."

Davidson, 35, was sentenced in April to serve 21 months in federal prison for his role in sending massive amounts of spam promoting penny stocks as good investments.

Davidson had become a "consultant" to the FBI investigating other spammers.

Davidson had served less than two months of his 21-month prison sentence when he escaped.
 

Chris Sherman made the connection; he writes, "The campus would be ideal for a hybrid data center and workspace for engineers and salespeople.  The campus is just four miles from Level 3 Communications, which operates one of the largest communications and internet backbones in the world.  Google CEO Eric Schmidt was the CTO of Sun for years."

Also, "There’s a major regional airport just three miles down the road.  The area has a wealth of telecommunications and computer engineering talent (IBM is Boulder county’s largest employer and Qualcomm has an office here).  The campus is even located on streets with geeky names (Tape Drive and Disc Drive)."

For our part, if Google’s involved, we’re thinking server farms and data centers are at stake.  The property is near Broomfield, Colorado, which would make exterior temperatures and overall heating costs admirably low.  It would also, assuming an equal geographic spread was being sought, put it in a good position comparable to facilities in Iowa and the Carolinas.

Finally, in terms of size – 432 acres – this facility would more or less match other data centers and server farms.

It could be a while before anyone finds out one way or another, though – according to Sherman, some almost top-secret precautions have been taken.  Still, whether it’s due to an announcement or unavoidable tax documents, we should discover whether the purchase price was around the rumored $60 million, and who (or what) was the buyer.