David Coursey

When thinking about Google, I am reminded of a story told by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Its about how when Kissinger was negotiating the end of the Vietnam war with the North Vietnamese he would play up Richard Nixons reputation as a rabid anti-communist. Kissinger would tell his Viet Cong counterparts that it […]

When a public agency announces a plan with a very short comment period—like one or two weeks—you should assume the plan is, as we say in Texas, “on rails” and about as likely to be stopped as a locomotive. And so it is that on Friday, the State of Massachusetts made it official: Effective January […]

I am not a big fan of the “citizen journalism” being practiced on the Internet these days. One of the tenets of “real” journalism is that you dont distribute information that hasnt been checked. Citizen publishers are under no such obligation, so the information that winds up in blogs and distributed on mailing lists must […]

It would be so much easier to understand what happens at Microsoft if only its corporate headquarters had a big balcony. To announce a reorganization, Microsoft would hold a parade and wed watch who appeared to review the troops, Soviet-style. Wed note where each Microsoft leader stood, who was next to whom, and how many […]

As part of the debate that has followed Massachusetts state CIO Peter Quinns edict that all state documents be stored in an “open” format as of January 2007, I posed some questions to Microsoft. Ive also continued to receive reader e-mail, mostly from people who support “open” everything and seem to hate all things Microsoft. […]

Have IT departments lost their sense of emergency as it relates to computer crime? Thats what a new study, prepared by my colleagues at CIO Insight says. IT managers arent as willing to invest in security as they were immediately post-9/11. Sadly, battle fatigue seems to have set in, despite some pretty serious wins by […]

I have to admit to being initially perplexed when the news about eBay buying Skype reached my desk. For hours, I tried over and again to make sense of the deal, trying to understand what Id missed. It wasnt until late in the day that it dawned on me: The reason eBay buying Skype doesnt […]

There is an idea making the rounds on some blogs that I am in favor of censoring free speech on the Internet. This is based on a misinterpretation of comments Ive made to the effect that a national firewall might someday be necessary to protect Americans from Internet crime. While I do not believe commercial […]

My recent column on the State of Massachusetts plan to require all documents to be stored in an “open” format has drawn considerable comment from readers. It was a difficult column to write because there are so many factors at play and I am happy to expand upon it in response to the questions Ive […]

The decision by the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts to require an “open” format for the storage of state documents is a curious one. It seems to be as much about punishing Microsoft as it is the laudable goal of making information more accessible. Microsoft should accede to the states demand that it open its file […]