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Community Blog for two guys in Atlanta that focus on Microsoft and Community.

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This is the community blog for Brendon Schwartz and Matt Ranlett.  If you want to see their technical posts visit http://www.sharepointguys.com

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    Scary goings on in the state of Maine

    I'm not 100% sure how I got to this site - it began as a search for some SharePoint and SmartPart information, linked through Scoble (is everyone aware of the recent family tragedy he's had?), and got to the MaineWebReport.com.

    The story I'm about to share is a disturbing example of government employees and private companies trying to suppress an individual's rights (First Amendment, Freedom of Information, etc) through threats and lawsuits.

    Lance Dutson is a web developer in Maine who makes his living designing sites for various clients.  In his spare time, Lance examines local politics to see how life in Maine is changing as a result of government spending.  Some time ago, Lance noticed that the online efforts of the Maine Office of Tourism fell below his expectations, especially the extreme cost to the taxpayers which he refers to as Pay-Per-Gate (beginning back in February 2006).  He begain posting his criticisms online in his blog.  His criticisms included an online tourism ad with a phone number that directs callers to a phone sex operator rather than the state's tourism board.

    Someone at the MOT (Maine Office of Tourism) noticed the blog entries and began a shameful spiral of communication which resulted in threatening e-mails to Lance, to Lance's wife, and to Lance's wife's employer.  Threatening phone calls were received.  Blatantly vitriolic blog comments were received.  These threats came from officials in the MOT and from private sector subcontractors of the MOT (some hiding behind pseudonyms).  Things came to a head with a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Mr. Dutson for alleged copyright infringement and defamation.

    The lawsuit has since been dropped as nationwide and international press picked up the story.  The people making threats have for the most part owned up and apologized.  However, the story isn't over yet as no contracts have been terminated and no public officials have lost their jobs, so keep an eye on the MaineWebReport.com. 

    This story should sound somewhat familiar to anyone who keeps even a casual eye on local Georgia politics.  Think about the the new Hartsfield runway dirt bid and other Bill Campbell scandals.  What about Augusta Georgia's own Linda Schrenko?  Public sector corruption and incompetence is something every state has to deal with and I hope that Mr. Dutson's example encourages other individuals to examine the actions of their state and federal governments with a critical eye.

    Posted: 05-17-2006 7:15 AM by Matt Ranlett | with 2 comment(s)
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    Comments

    Cyanbane said:

    Nice Post.
    # May 17, 2006 10:13 AM

    Outsider said:

    I was very gullible and got badly defrauded when I first moved to Maine last year. It was a new experience, since I 'm pretty well convinced that such a corny old scam would never be attempted in a more modern and civilized area.

    But there are crooks everywhere. And most Mainers - are terrific people.

    Unfortunately, I'm all alone and legally illiterate, and every lawyer in this town works for the crooks, and after months of searching, the only folks who would even talk to me were the many online, militant Maine bashers. (Some of whom told me my life was in danger, which made me very paranoid, and probably damaged my own credibility.)  But I was finally feeling better....until I got wind of Lance Dutson's story, and his treatment sounded eerily familiar to me.

    But whenever any of these Maine bashers called Maine the most corrupt state in the union, several people would counter - "No... It's Georgia".

    I don't personally know much about Maine, other than it's very beautiful, and there are some fantastic people,  but this particular town (And maybe the MOT...?) DO seem pretty corrupt on the surface.  

    But I happen to know that dishonesty itself is stupid and self defeating. Most people probably want to be honest coming out of the gate. If there's corruption, then it's been going on for so long that people don't know how to change it.

    I'm sure none of these people graduate from school, then tell themselves: "Oh, Good! Now I can go work for the government and be a crook!"

    I'm from Massachusetts. where we all waited 10 years for the Big Dig, so we could get to a town 10 miles away in less than an hour. A jillion dollars later, when it was finally finished, it was discovered to be defective and unsafe. Some government people won't even take their kids through it.

    And nobody even seems remotely surprised.

    So. Who am I to bad mouth Maine?

    Maine has experienced a HUGE influx of people since 9/11, (even coordinating the traffic lights is a chore.)  Add that to the new tech revolution (new to most Mainers) and their natural insular suspicion of outsiders, and some of what might SEEM to me like corruption may just be ...."Inertia"...or - in my case, maybe incompetence, myopia,  or even extreme xenophobia.

    At any rate, now, when I contemplate Maine's 'corruption', I will think of Georgia, and be comforted.

    And the good news is that it's getting harder for bad guys to hide anywhere, because the world's too small.

    # May 17, 2006 3:44 PM