Jose Zamora, Gary Kebbel, Mark Glaser,

This coming week I will sign and fax the Knight Foundation contract. I
look forward to blogging about the Includer.

Jose, Thank you for answering my questions about the contract on Thursday
when I called you. As we discussed, I write up the answers you gave and
share them with my lab's working group Learn How to Learn where we are
working openly on the Includer.

Jose, Gary, Mark, please let me know if there is anything to correct in my
understanding of this contract as given in my letters below.

Jose explained that the Letter Agreement is written for outside
consultants in general, and so certain parts don't apply to me because I
am simply blogging. Whereas the Statement of Work is written specifically
for me. My work is to write blog posts and file quarterly reports and I
am working for an agreed fee. Therefore, I do not have to keep records of
time spent or send monthly invoices. The money that I will receive is my
earnings for my work and there are no restrictions on how I use those
earnings. The purpose of the quarterly reports is to be transparent about
my work and show that the funds are well used. I look forward to
achieving the highest standards of the Knight Foundation, but if my work
in any way does not meet the minimal standards of the Knight Foundation to
earn my final payment, then I will be alerted, but certainly after any
quarterly report where this might be the case. I will be held to the same
standards as the other Knight Foundation Award Winner bloggers from this
year and last year, and so far, every blogger has met the standards to
receive their final payment in full.

Jose and I discussed questions regarding the Includer as a commercial
venture. The Includer, as described in my original proposal, is a project
of my laboratory that is both commercial and open source. I will make the
most of my opportunity to blog about the Includer so that it can indeed
come to life, and more generally, people with marginal Internet access
might be served. I will engage the public in general, and also specific
people, companies, organizations, institutions, to ask for their help. I
will be open in my efforts. In coordinating activity and opening
opportunity, there may arise questions about proper behavior. For
example, may I write to Amazon, let them know that I am a PBS blogger, and
ask for a free Kindle ebook reader? No. May I write to them about my
work on the Includer, ask for a free Kindle ebook reader, if I don't
mention that I'm a PBS blogger or Knight Foundation winner? Yes. May I
write to a conference organizer and ask for a free pass as a blogger? It's
not entirely clear. Jose encouraged me to believe in each other's good
faith and that we can work out any such issues as they come up.

To Jose's knowledge (and to my knowledge) I have not been exposed to any
confidential information about the Knight Foundation.

Thank you, Knight Foundation, for this award.

Andrius

Andrius Kulikauskas
Minciu Sodas
http://www.ms.lt
ms@...
+1 312 618 3345

-------------------------------------------

Jose Zamora,

How are you? It was good to talk last week. I know you were busy then,
but I hope you find time to answer my questions from my letter below of
August 13, 2008.

I also add a few more questions about this contract to blog about the
Includer http://www.includer.org at the PBS Mediashift website
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/

I am required to write reports on my progress due on January 5, 2009, on
March 1, 2009, on June 1, 2009, and a final report due on September 1,
2009. What is the purpose of these reports, given that my work is evident
from my blog? Will I receive confirmation each quarter that my work is
satisfactory or what I must do to make it satisfactory?

My progress will be measured in terms of:
* the number of blog posts
* the quality of my content
* the number of reader comments
Is this what I write about in my report? Should I judge the quality of my
own content?

The Knight Foundation will make its second and final payment to me
($7,050) upon evaluating my work as a blogger. Is the same standard used
for all bloggers who are 2008 Knight News Challenge Award winners? and is
that the same standard as it was for the 2007 Knight News Challenge Award
winners? Will I be informed each quarter if I am meeting the standard or
not?

The Letter Agreement and the Statement of Work make no mention of who owns
my posts. However, you wrote to assure me that they provide that I own my
posts, they can be in the Public Domain, and they will be published under
a Creative Commons license. Does my ownership follow from the fact that I
am an independent contractor?

I look forward to your answers and I look forward to blogging!

Thank you,

Andrius Kulikauskas
Minciu Sodas
http://www.ms.lt
ms@...
+1 312 618 3345

-------------------------------

Jose Zamora,

Thank you for your letter. It was good to talk yesterday about the Knight
Foundation contract. Thank you for your understanding and good will.

Yes, I'm very interested to blog for the Knight Foundation. With your
help I hope to overcome any obstacles.

I understood from our conversation that I may not post the contents of the
Letter Agreement or the Statement of Work, but I may discuss publicly the
meaning of the agreement, including any restrictions or commitments.

I will write my understanding of various parts. Please correct me if I am
wrong. I also ask some questions.

The Statement of Work states that blogging and my first payment will start
on September 2008 and continue for one year. Originally the work and
payment were to start in July, is that right? Why was the date changed?

The two payments of $7,050 will come from the Tides Center. I'm curious
to learn more about the relationship between Tides Center, Knight
Foundation and PBS for this project. How did they come together?

I will submit four reports of my progress on Jan 5, 2009, March 1, 2009,
June 1, 2009, September 1, 2009.

I am asked to make records of revenues and expenditures and to make them
available for review by the Tides Center and the Knight Foundation at
reasonable times. Why is that? or what does that mean, "revenues" and
"expenditures"? Does this concern at all the $14,100 that I will receive
or does it refer to something else?

The agreement says that I will repay to the Tides Center any portion of
the grant that is not used for the specific purposes of the grant. Could
that be applicable here? How?

The agreement says that I will not use any of the funds:
* to attempt to influence legislation or the outcome of any specific election
* to carry on a voter registration drive
* to make any grant that does not comply with private foundation grant rules
* to conduct any activity for a non-charitable purpose
What does it mean "to use funds". And what is the relationship between
the above restrictions and my activity as a blogger? What is a
"non-charitable" purpose? How does that relate to the Includer, which is
a commercial project? How could I "make a grant", is that possible or
applicable?

Are the above restrictions from the Knight Foundation, the Tides Center or
PBS or another institution?

Mark Glaser will moderate my work and my posts may be removed at any time.
I conclude that I can focus on writing what I think is relevant and I do
not have to self-censor myself because he or others will remove any
material that is not permitted.

The Letter Agreement states that I will be working as an independent
contractor, an outside consultant retained by the Tides Center, under
advice from the Knight Foundation, and with funds from the Knight
Foundation. My supervisor is Gary Kebbel who will act as project director
for the Tides Center and liaison with the Knight Foundation. They will
not directly supervise my work, but are only concerned with the final
product of my efforts. The manner and method by which I provide the
services is under my discretion.

I must maintain accurate records of the time I spend on these consulting
services. Why? I must provide such records and invoices every month. Why?

I, the Tides Center, or the Knight Foundation may terminate this agreement
at any time and for any reason.

There is a statement that I agree to maintain the confidentiality of the
Letter Agreement and all of its provisions, and not to disclose any such
matters to any third party, except as required by law or to my
professional advisers. However, you explained, that I can discuss the
meaning of the agreement. Is there any conflict here?

I may be entrusted and required to work with or otherwise become aware of
confidential, proprietary or trade secret information related to the Tides
Center's or Knight Foundation's business. I must agree to never disclose
it or use it for any other purpose. You gave the example of a Knight
award winner who may have a commercial project with secrets that must be
respected. As we discussed, you and I believe that I currently have no
knowledge of any confidential or sensitive information and don't expect to
have access to any. My own experiences and opinions regarding the Knight
Foundation, positive or negative, are not confidential.

Jose, Thank you for all of your help. I look forward to your answers. I
share with our working group Learn How To Learn for the Includer.

Andrius

Andrius Kulikauskas
Minciu Sodas
http://www.ms.lt
ms@...
+1 312 618-3345