CIO —
In the fall of 2004, Peter J. Quinn, the CIO of the state of Massachusetts, was the only government IT executive willing to be quoted on the record as an ardent advocate for open source in a CIO article about Microsoft’s extensive lobbying efforts on the state and federal level. Soon after, Quinn became a vocal advocate of OpenDocument Format (ODF), an XML-based format for saving and exchanging documents. Indeed, under his guidance, the administration of Governor Mitt Romney in the fall of 2005 announced plans to store government records using ODF, a move that could result in the state’s government agencies phasing out Microsoft Office.
But several powerful state officials objected to the plan. Secretary of State William Galvin publicly criticized the move, and a state senator held a hearing on the ODF plan in October at which he also raised objections to it.
On Nov. 26, 2005, an article in the Boston Globe charged that Quinn had made trips to sponsored technology conferences without proper approval. Quinn was soon cleared of any alleged ethical violations, but the front-page blast spelled the end of his public sector career. Quinn believes that Microsoft was behind the story. He resigned in January, saying he didn’t want to go on fighting Microsoft and local Massachusetts officials opposed to the move to ODF.
"Everybody attributes the article to folks opposing the open format piece," Quinn said in an interview with CIO. "Every corporation was endorsing us with the exception of Microsoft."
In a recent interview, Microsoft officials did not confirm or deny they were involved in drawing the Globe’s attention to Quinn’s travel itinerary. "Peter’s travels were public records, and reporters just looked into it," said Alan Yates, general manager for business strategy within the Microsoft Office team.
However, public documents as well as interviews with lobbyists and state officials show that Microsoft lobbied to oppose Massachusetts’ move to ODF. Former Microsoft employees and open-source advocates say that since 28 percent of Microsoft’s $39.7 billion in yearly revenue comes from use of Office software, the software giant stands to lose a great deal if Massachusetts’ example inspires other government entities to abandon Office.
In 2005, Microsoft lobbyists visited a number of state officials on Beacon Hill, and trade associations with ties to Microsoft sent letters criticizing the state’s move to ODF. Campaign finance records show that those state officials who most vocally opposed the plan received campaign contributions from Microsoft lobbyists. For instance, state Sen. Marc Pacheco, who held hearings on the move to OpenDocument Format at which he voiced opposition to the plan, received $600 in campaign contributions from Microsoft lobbyists over the past three years. And Secretary of State Galvin received $400, according to state campaign contribution records. "Microsoft has banked on ODF not being a credible threat to them," says Andy Updegrove, an attorney at the Boston law firm Gesmer Updegrove, who has represented OASIS, the nonprofit group that developed ODF.
