(hi john!)

pic by Joi Ito

John Bracken, an expert in online innovation, will direct the Knight Foundation’s grantmaking in digital media.

As Knight’s director of new media, Bracken will also lead the Knight News Challenge. He previously managed the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s investments in technology and innovation and global Internet freedom.

From today’s release:

“John is already a leading digital media grant maker,” said Eric Newton, vice president of Knight Foundation’s journalism program. “His work will only grow in impact as all news organizations seek to invent or reinvent themselves for the digital age.”

“In a world of constant technological and social change, it’s essential that we fund a wide range of experiments that will help point the way we will share and use information in this democracy,” said Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of Knight Foundation.  “Only by intense experimentation and staying open to new trends and ideas can we hope to sustainably provide communities with the information they need to function in an open society.”

Previously, Bracken served as a program officer at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, where he managed investments in technology and innovation and global Internet freedom, and worked to strengthen nonprofit start-ups. He also has worked with the Ford Foundation as a program associate in media policy and technology, and analyzed the social and policy impact of the Internet for the Center for Media Education.

“Throughout my career, I’ve strived to maximize the potential of the Internet for improving society,” said Bracken.  “I can’t imagine a more exciting place than Knight Foundation to continue that work.”

A frequent speaker on new media, Bracken has a master’s degree from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in political science and international studies from Pitzer College in Claremont, California.  He was a 2008-09 Leadership Greater Chicago fellow and blogs on media and technology issues at www.johnbracken.net.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed, engaged communities and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

Looks like Twentieth Century Fox is getting ready to do a sequel to Napoleon Dynamite.

What the heck are you even talking about?

A few days ago they filed an “intent to use” trademark registration application for “Napoleon Dynamite” and described the goods as “a series of motion picture films featuring comedy.”

Movie titles that are not part of a series are not eligible for trademark registration because single-work titles are merely descriptive. The germinal case is In re Cooper, 254 F2d 611 (1958).

Merely descriptive marks lack the distinctiveness required to register a trademark.

Heraty Law client WFTDA has announced the 2010 Big Five roller derby tournament schedule.

A series of four Regional Playoffs will kick off the weekend of Sept. 10 in Green Bay, WI, when teams from the North Central Region will meet in a three-day tournament.

The Regional Playoffs will continue through Oct. 10, qualifying teams for the WFTDA Championships Nov. 5-7 in Chicago, IL.

The top 10 teams in each region will receive invitations to compete. The regional rankings used to determine tournament invites will be based on a member league vote including games played through June 30. The top three finishers in each regional tournament will be eligible to move on to the WFTDA Championships.

The full 2010 WFTDA tournament schedule is as follows:

• Sept. 10-12 – North Central Region Playoffs, co-hosted by the Brewcity Bruisers and PMI Entertainment in Green Bay, WI
• Sept. 24-26 – East Region Playoffs, hosted by Suburbia Roller Derby in White Plains, NY
• Oct. 1-3 – West Region Playoffs, hosted by the Sacred City Derby Girls in Sacramento, CA
• Oct. 8-10 – South Central Region Playoffs, hosted by the No Coast Derby Girls in Lincoln, NE
• Nov. 5-7 – WFTDA Championships, hosted by the Windy City Rollers in Chicago, IL

Full details for those interested in attending the tournaments will be announced in late summer.

Our friend Raquel Cepeda was on CNN last night with Heraty Law client Baratunde Thurston, discussing the 2010 Census and its questions related to race and ethnicity.

Further commentary from Baratunde…

and further commentary from Raquel.

The New York Times has an article about how states are looking to collect revenue from sales taxes based on services rendered to its citizens.

Some states already tax a number of services (like haircuts, utilities, repair services, etc.), but very few tax professional services like medical or legal services.

Some states prefer to collect sales tax as a substitute for a state income tax. If states are going to impose a sales/use tax on most goods and services, then they should not also collect income taxes.

A sales tax on medical and legal services would not be paid by the doctor or the lawyer – it would be a surcharge collected from the individual patient or client and paid to the state.

At what point would the sales/use tax obligation on services cease? If pro bono services were rendered by a medical or legal professional, would the client then be responsible to pay an income or sales/use tax based on the value/benefit of the services received, even if they did not have to pay for the actual services rendered?