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[News] State of Connecticut Proposes Open Source Software in New Bill

Proposed Bill No. 5299

,----[ Quote ]
| AN ACT CONCERNING COMPUTER SOFTWARE PURCHASED BY STATE AGENCIES.
| 
| Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
| Assembly convened:
| 
| That the general statutes be amended to require state agencies to
| consider the availability of open source code software when
| purchasing, licensing or procuring computer software, as an
| alternative to proprietary software, based upon a comparison of
| costs and quality standards.
| 
| Statement of Purpose:
| 
| To require state agencies to consider the use of open source code
| software as an alternative to the use of proprietary software. 
`----

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2007/TOB/H/2007HB-05299-R00-HB.htm

Bravo. How long before Connecticut school are given free Microsoft software
just like in Massachusetts?


Related:

MS leads lobby against open source (2002)

,----[ Quote ]
| "Microsoft and other software companies are ramping up a lobbying
| effort aimed at convincing governments to think again where it
| comes to adopting open-source software. The Initiative for Software
| Choice, which launched quietly in early May, is chaired by an
| industry body called the Computer Technology Industry Association
| (CompTIA), but its biggest software industry backer is Microsoft."
`----

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-949527.html


MA Governor-Elect Names MS Anti-ODF Lobbyist to Technology Advisory Group

,----[ Quote ]
| That person is Brian Burke, the Microsoft Regional Director for Public
| Affairs, and if that surprises you, it surprises me as well, given the
| degree of acrimonious debate and disinformation witnessed in Massachusetts
| over the last 15 months involving the Information Technology Division's
| transition to ODF.... it is my understanding that it was Burke who led
| the lobbying effort on Beacon Hill against ODF, and also urged legislators
| to introduce the amendment intended to take away much of the ITD's
| planning power generally, and as regards standards specifically, and hand
| it to a task force made up of political appointees.... Although I'm told
| that Burke announced yesterday at the first meeting of the new working
| group that he will be participating as a private citizen rather than a
| Microsoft employee, I believe that Burke should recuse himself from
| participating in any discussions or recommendations relating to
| document format standards.
`----

http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20061128161343183



Open Source Foes In Bed With Abramoff

http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/12/2036223&from=rss



Microsoft offers schools in Mass. free software (to stop ODF adoption)

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's software includes normal applications, such as word
| processing and spreadsheets, as well as more advanced programs.
`----

http://news.com.com/2100-7344_3-6090196.html?part=rss&tag=6090196&subj=news


Microsoft plays Massachusetts Senate card

OpenDocument not a done deal yet

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32515


The Sorry State of Massachusetts

,----[ Quote ]
| So for now, that's the sorry state of affairs in Massachusetts, the
| place where the grand ODF adventure was first given public life more
| than a year ago.  Happily, the wider process of adoption to which
| Massachusetts gave birth is continuing globally.  Perhaps some day
| the bickering legislators on Beacon Hill will get back on the bus.
`----

http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=2006111603531029


,----[ Quote ]
|    Quinn:  Almost to a person, to anybody involved or who knows about
|    the ODF issue, they attributed the story to Microsoft, right, wrong
|    or otherwise. Senator Pacheco may be a bully but I do not believe he
|    is disingenious and would stoop to such a tactic. Senator Pacheco and
|    Secretary Galvin's office remain very heavily influenced by the
|    Microsoft money and its lobbyist machine, as witnessed by their
|    playbook and words, in my opinion.
| 
|    Quinn:  I believe that the ODF decision will stand. I believe MS
|    will continue to do anything and everything it can to stop it. And I
|    know my seat wasn't even empty and they (MS) took another shot at
|    the title, to no avail. This horse is out of the barn and I see no
|    way for it to go back in. Remember, all we are asking for was and is
|    for Microsoft to commit to open and the standards process; so
|    everyone looks really bad if the plug gets pulled at this juncture. 
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060119232859729


Mass ITD Resolved Accessibility Issues, Adjusts ODF Rollout Details

,----[ Quote ]
| Now let's turn to Dana Blankenhorn's bizarre piece.  First of all, Dana
| (who should know better) picks up and repeats the open source confusion,
| titling his piece Blind leading the way from open source.
| 
|     I'm sure this is just a hiccup, but apparently the blind have given
|     Massachusetts' efforts to mandate open source the shaft.  Because Open
|     Document Format (ODF) software (Open Office) does not yet work with 
|     screen magnifiers, which make computer documents usable by those who  
|     are legally blind, the state of Massachusetts is 
| 
| This is an ancient piece of FUD (mandating open source) that has been
| perpetrated by ODF opponents, and it is discouraging to see it continue
| to appear in venues (such as ZDNet and TechWorld) that have credibility. 
`----

http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20060823131715736


Politics and tech companies: follow the money

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft took first place with $651,100 given out, while
| Hewlett-Packard gave only $185,550, and Gateway gave a paltry
| $2,000. Microsoft's donations certainly illustrate well the true
| size of the company and the extent of its political concerns.
| 
| [...]
| 
| For instance, Microsoft's PAC spent $1.7 million in the 2006 election
| cycle, but only a third of this went to federal candidates. What
| happened to the rest? It went to local campaigns, paid out a few
| thousand dollars at a time to groups like "Boal for Iowa House" in
| Ankeny, IA. It also funded other PACs like the "Associated Republicans
| of Texas" and the "Blue Dog Political Action Committee." No race is
| apparently too small to be funded; even Indiana State Representative
| Terri Austin of Anderson, IN got $500.
| Lobbyists
| 
| But the real money isn't even given to the candidates directly. It
| goes to lobbyists, which can be safer investments since they stand no
| chance of losing at the polls. The complete-year figures from 2005
| show that Microsoft spent $8.7 million on lobbyist expenses. Almost
| a million dollars of that money went to Covington & Burling, a
| lobbying firm that also represents the National Football League and
| the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America. Microsoft's
| total spending on lobbying has risen substantially from the $4
| million it spent in 1998.
| 
| [...]
| 
| Where does it come from?
| 
| Although some of this money comes from large employee donations,
| most of it does not. Take Microsoft, for instance; the Center for
| Responsive Politics says that the company received only $302,599
| from individual donors who gave more than $200 in this election
| cycle, only a small fraction of the $1.7 million actually spent.
| As is typical, much of this money came from the company's top
| brass, while the rest was made up of small contributions.
| 
| The maximum individual contribution to a PAC is $5,000 a year.
| Melinda, whose occupation is listed in Federal Election Commission
| records as "homemaker," regularly contributes this amount, as does
| Bill. Steve Ballmer coughed up, too. Microsoft can use general
| company funds to support the PAC and its operations, but cannot 
| give directly to candidates.
`----

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8194.html


Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff

,----[ Quote ]
| E-mails released by the committee show that Abramoff, often
| with the knowledge of the groups' leaders, exploited the tax-exempt
| status and leveraged the stature of the organizations to build
| support among conservatives for legislation or government action
| sought by clients including Microsoft Corp., mutual fund company
| DH2 Inc., Primedia Inc.'s Channel One Network, and Brown-Forman,
| maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
`----

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889.html
http://tinyurl.com/y2rbpu


Changing the Report, After the Vote

,----[ Quote ]
| That agreement was nearly imperiled last weekend, though. Gerri
| Elliott, corporate vice president at Microsoft's Worldwide Public
| Sector division, sent an e-mail message to fellow commissioners
| Friday evening saying that she "vigorously" objected to a paragraph
| in which the panel embraced and encouraged the development of open
| source software and open content projects in higher education. 
`----

http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/09/01/commission

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