1. CONTEST OVERVIEW AND TERM.
THERE IS NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. Welcome to the IMProv Center’s BOT Bounty Contest Promotion (the “Contest”), sponsored and administered by IM Interactive Corp. (“Sponsor” or “Administrator”), offering prizes to individual technology developers or authorized representatives of independent software developers, and consultants who are at least 18 years of age (or of legal majority in their jurisdiction of legal residence) and have technical programming education and/or knowledge to create “robot” software programs for use with MSN Messenger / Windows Live (collectively, including meeting all Contest-related eligibility requirements, “Participants”) who by registering and participating in the Contest can qualify to potentially win of up to $3,500.00 in cash and other Contest Prizes, as more fully described and subject to the terms and conditions specified on the Contest site page and in these Official Rules, Terms of Use, Privacy Statement and official Contest communications and publications by Sponsor. The Contest entry period commences on May 15, 2006 (12:00:00 AM Pacific Time (“PT”)) and continues through and including September 15, 2006 (11:59:59 PM PT) (the “Contest Term”).
Employees and directors, together with members of their immediate families (parent, child, sibling and spouse of each regardless of where they reside) and those living in their same households (whether or not related), of Sponsor and its subsidiaries and equity affiliates and any person supporting the Contest. Residents of the following countries are ineligible to participate: Cuba; Iran; Iraq; Libya; North Korea Sudan; and Syria. In addition, residents of the province of Quebec in Canada are ineligible to participate. The Contest is void in these countries and where prohibited or restricted by law.
Please Note: If an individual prospective Participant is acting as an agent and representing his/her employer/principal in this Contest, it is his/her sole responsibility to review, understand and abide by his/her principal’s or employer's policies regarding eligibility to participate in activities such as the Contest described in these Official Rules, Terms of Use, Privacy Statement and official Contest communications and publications. If you are participating in violation of your principal’s/employer's policies, you may be disqualified from entering the Contest and being awarded/retaining Contest Prizes. Released Parties (as defined below) disclaim any and all liability or responsibility for disputes arising between an employee and his/her employer (or other principal-agent relationships) related to this matter. To be eligible to participate, you must otherwise qualify for participation under the rules, terms and conditions of, and participate in, Microsoft’s Invasion of the Robots Contest (“Main Contest”).
These rules, terms and conditions specified herein for the Contest comprise its Official Rules (hereinafter, the “Rules”) and, together with the Contest Site’s Terms of Use, Trademarks and Privacy Statement (“Contest Materials”) and official Contest communications or publications by Sponsor, shall govern and apply to all participation and activity arising out of and relating to the Contest and use of the Site. In the event of a conflict between the Contest Materials and any official Contest communications or publications, the Contest Materials shall govern, as interpreted in Sponsor’s reasonable discretion. Please take a moment to review these Contest Materials which, by your participation, including registration, entry, verification activities and redemption of any Contest Prize, you agree will govern all aspects of your relationship with the Contest, the Site, its Sponsor and the Contest Administrator and Contest agents. These Rules cannot be modified or superseded except by Sponsor, in its reasonable discretion, in a written revision to these Rules posted on the official Contest web site (http://www.msnimprov.com/Bot_Contest_Rules) (the “Site”) and, at Sponsor’s sole discretion, other potential official Contest communication methods reasonably calculated to reach a majority of potential or active Participants.
2. PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST
A. DOWNLOAD AND USE OF AN AUTHORIZED ROBOT SOFTWARE DEVELOPER KIT
Participation in the Contest requires the download from the IMProvCenter.com site (“Site”) and use by eligible prospective Participants of the Akonix L7 Builder™ software developer kit (“SDK”) through and the hosting of the executable program file on servers operated by Sponsor during the contest period, and participating in the Main Contest in accordance with the applicable rules (“MSN Rules”).
B. DEVELOP AND SELF HOST A ROBOT PROGRAM COMPATIBLE WITH THE MICROSOFT WINDOWS MESSENGER PLATFORM
Using the SDK, develop a “robot” as specified in the MSN Rules (hereinafter “Robot”). Prospective Participants are encouraged to consult the MSN Rules in conjunction with their Contest-related Robot development efforts, including the Judging Criteria specified by Microsoft Corporation("Microsoft"). In order to qualify for Contest Prizes, you must upload your Robot executable file to IMProvCenter.com for hosting during the Main Contest Period. If it is removed by you at any time before the conclusion of the Main Contest, you will not be eligible for Contest Prizes. You are not eligible to win Contest Prizes if you use a software development kit other than Akonix L7 Builder™ and/or if it is hosted by you or with any other hosting provider.
C. REGISTER YOUR ROBOT WITH MSN
After development and once the Robot application is hosted and available on the Messenger network, register your Robot with Messenger. Using MSN Messenger or Windows Live Messenger, add the following contact botprovision@hotmail.com to your Messenger contact list, initiate a conversation with that Robot, and select the option to “register” your Robot with MSN. The Robot will initiate an application window within Messenger within which you will be prompted to provide your contact information, address and PUID for your Robot application and accept terms of use and privacy statement for Robots on the .net messenger service. Registration with MSN for the Main Contest is a condition to participating in this Contest.
D. ENTER THE CONTEST
To enter the Contest, accurately, truthfully and fully complete as directed the registration information requested online at the Site. This information must match the registration information submitted to MSN for the Main Contest. Your eligibility to participate in the contest, in addition to the terms specified herein, is subject to and contingent upon you qualification and good standing under the terms and conditions of the Main Contest.
Please Note: The Main Contest terms and conditions provide that “By entering the Main Contest and uploading for continuing entry, validation and verification a Tendered Entry and a Robot, each Participant grants to each of Microsoft (including Microsoft’s other affiliates and subsidiaries, employees, agents, and contractors, any testing partners, and the Contest Administrator and Contest Judges an irrevocable, royalty free, fully paid up, worldwide non-exclusive license under the Participants' copyrights, patents or other intellectual property rights to use, review, assess, test and otherwise analyze the submissions and all their content in connection with this Contest. Microsoft and its designees shall be free to use for any purpose in any and all media now known or hereinafter developed in any territory in perpetuity the residuals resulting from access to or work with Participants' Robots. The term "residuals" means information in intangible form, which is retained in memory by persons who have had access to the submissions, including ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained therein. Microsoft shall not have any obligation to limit or restrict the assignment of such persons or to pay royalties for any work resulting from the use of residuals.” You agree the foregoing permissions and grants of rights apply to IMI to the same extent as those granted to Microsoft.
E. JUDGING
Judging of the Main Contest shall be governed by and administered under the rules and procedures of Microsoft. Winners and their respective placement under the Main Contest shall be used by IMI as the basis for determining winners and their respective placement in the Contest.
B. Contest Prizes
One (1) Grand Prize: $2,000.00 Cash (USD) to the Grand Prize Winner of the Main Contest;
One (1) First Prize: $1,000 Cash (USD) to the First Prize Winner of the Main Contest;
Five (5) Second Prizes: $100.00 Cash (USD) for each “Second Prize” Winner under the Main Contest.
10 Apple iPod Shuffle Players will be awarded to the first 10 developers that submit a Contest Bot application to the IMProv Center that is deployed on the MSN network ("Deploy")
The 11th through 50th developers that Deploy will receive a Akonix Jacket which will be delivered as reasonably practicable after deployment.
The 51st through 100th developers that Deploy will receive an Akonix Memory Stick (256K) which will be delivered as reasonably practicable after deployment.
Award of the foregoing prizes (collectively “Contest Prizes”) is subject to notification, acceptance and verification, including for compliance with these Rules and the rules of the Main Contest.
Akonix related Contest Prizes, including the iPod Shuffles, Jackets and Memory Sticks, are furnished by Akonix, and are delivered to the Contest winners as determined by IMI on "as is" basis and without warranties of any kind. Winners are not entitled to substitute Akonix prizes for cash, and Akonix and Sponsor reserve the right to make reasonable substitutions of equivalent value as determined in their sole discretion for good cause, including lack of product availability, casualty or loss of products and other similar circumstances.
D. Additional Contest Prize-Related Terms and Conditions.
Upon notification and ordinary course verification, Contest Prizes will be remitted to a winner with 4-8 weeks of completion of the verification and acceptance process (e.g., verified and accepted Contest Prize winners). Unclaimed Contest Prizes will be forfeited.
Any costs or expenses associated with the acceptance and use of a Contest Prize are the sole responsibility of the Contest Prize winners. All Contest Prize details are at Sponsor’s sole discretion. Method of payment of cash is at Sponsor’s sole discretion.
Contest Prizes will be awarded to individual winning Participants and should be retained by such individuals only in conformity with any applicable policies of their employers or principals, regarding participation in and receipt of promotional consideration relating to the Contest and receipt and retention of Contest Prizes. If an employer’s/principal’s policies are applicable, it is the employer’s/principal’s sole and ultimate responsibility, in consultation with Participant, to determine how and if any Contest Prize will be retained and/or distributed and accounted for and Released Parties assume no responsibility for the decisions made by such employers/principals regarding this issue, other than discretion specifically reserved to Sponsor and the Contest Administrator in these Rules.
4. GENERAL CONTEST TERMS AND CONDITIONS
A. Entries; Verification/Audit; Participant Cooperation
All activity arising out of and relating to the Contest is subject to verification and/or auditing for compliance with the Rules, the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Participants agree to reasonably cooperate with Sponsor concerning verification and/or auditing. In the event that Contest verification activity or an audit evidences non-compliance with the Rules or official Contest communications, as determined in Sponsor’s reasonable discretion, a Participant’s continuing participation in any aspect of the Contest may be suspended or terminated. No responsibility is assumed for information not received from Participants, inaccurate information or corrupted files, whether caused by any of the equipment, computers, telephone, cable, network, electronic or Internet hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections, availability or garbled or jumbled transmissions, service provider/Internet/web site/use net accessibility or availability, air or ground traffic congestion, or unauthorized human intervention or by any human, mechanical or computer error or failure which may occur in the processing or storing of information.
B. Rules Amendment and Interpretation
The Contest and its continuing terms and conditions, benefits and participation are offered to Participants at the sole discretion of IMI. Microsoft reserves the right to amend or interpret the Rules or official Contest communications and any element or elements arising under or relating to the Contest at any time, upon published notice to Participants on the Site and at IMI’s sole discretion, other potential official Contest communication methods reasonably calculated to reach a majority of potential participants and existing Participants. A Participant shall be deemed to have notice of any such amendments or interpretations upon publication of the same on the Site and shall be deemed to have accepted such amendments or interpretations by virtue of a Participant’s continuing participation in the Contest. Should a Participant not wish to continue to participate in the Contest pursuant to the prevailing Rules(including MSN Rules), as amended or interpreted, a Participant may terminate participation in the Contest upon written notice to Sponsor.
C. Rule Compliance Interpretation; Adjudication and Remedial Process
Except where prohibited, Participants in the Contest agree that: (1) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any benefits received, or the administration of the Contest not resolved through internal adjudication shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by arbitration, to take place in the State of Connecticut pursuant to the Rules of the American Arbitration Association, then effective, (2) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with participating in the Contest and in no event shall Participants be entitled to receive attorneys’ fees or other legal costs; and (3) under no circumstances will a Participant be permitted to obtain awards for and Participants hereby waive all rights to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. Except where prohibited, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Rules, or the rights and obligations of Participant(s) and IMI in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the United States of America and the State of Connecticut, without regard for conflicts of law doctrine of any jurisdiction, and subject to resolution only in the City of Hartford, State of Connecticut, United States. By entry and participation in the Contest, Participants, including on behalf of their organizations/companies, agree that the City of Hartford, State of Connecticut, United State of America will be the exclusive forum for any formal dispute resolution.
D. Warranties / Disclaimers
IMI, AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, AND AFFILIATED COMPANIES AND AKONIX AND THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES AND AGENTS (COLLECTIVELY, THE “RELEASED PARTIES”) EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND (WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE), INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. RELEASED PARTIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE OR RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE GUARANTEES, WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS MADE OR OFFERED BY ADVERTISERS, PARTNERS, MANUFACTURERS OR SUPPLIERS, INCLUDING THOSE RELATING TO THE PRIZES. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL RELEASED PARTIES BE HELD RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR A PARTICIPANT'S USE OF THE INFORMATION AND/OR PRODUCTS PROVIDED AND/OR MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE CONTEST OR FOR ERRORS OR ANOMALIES RESULTING IN THE UNINTENDED OR ERRONEOUS PARTICIPATION, AWARD OF CONTEST PRIZES OR OTHER BENEFITS UNDER THE CONTEST TO PARTICIPANTS. RELEASED PARTIES OFFER NO ASSURANCES, GUARANTEES, WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS THAT THE CONTEST OR CONTEST WEBSITES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE AND DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE CONTEST. RELEASED PARTIES ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY COMPUTER-RELATED DAMAGES DUE TO DOWNLOADING MATERIALS. RELEASED PARTIES WILL NOT BE LIABLE, AND ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE, FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND RELATED TO A PARTICIPANT'S PARTICIPATION OR INABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONTEST, WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARE DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL.
FURTHER, BY PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST AND/OR ACCEPTING A CONTEST PRIZE, A PARTICIPANT AGREES THAT RELEASED PARTIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR, AND WILL BE HELD HARMLESS BY PARTICIPANT AGAINST, ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE, INJURY OR LOSS TO PERSON (INCLUDING DEATH) OR PROPERTY DUE IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, TO ACCEPTANCE, POSSESSION, USE OR MISUSE OF A CONTEST PRIZE, PARTICIPATION IN ANY CONTEST PRIZE-RELATED ACTIVITY, USE OF ANY TENDERED ENTRY OR OTHER RIGHTS GRANTED HEREIN OR PARTICIPATION IN THIS CONTEST.
SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES; THEREFORE THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY.
Any attempted participation by Internet or email or any other means except as permitted by these Rules or official Contest communications is void. Released Parties will not be responsible for lost, late, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, undelivered, delayed, inaccurate, garbled or illegible materials, entries, email or mail; or for any computer, telephone, cable, network, satellite, electronic or Internet hardware or software malfunctions, failures, connections, or availability, or for garbled or jumbled transmissions, or for service provider/Internet/Web site/use net accessibility or availability, traffic congestion, or unauthorized human intervention, or for inaccurate capture of any information, Prize orders or other information, or the failure to capture any such information. Released Parties are not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by printing errors, Site users, tampering, hacking, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest, and are not responsible for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to the Contest Site or any communications means or for any other error of failure of any kind in connection with or relating to this Contest, whether caused by any human, typographical, printing, mechanical, computer or other means, including, without limitation, errors or failures which may occur in connection with the processing or storing of information, the administration of the Contest, the uploading, processing validating, posting and/or judging of entries, the announcement of the Contest Prizes or in any Contest-related materials. Released Parties are not responsible for injury or damage to Participants' or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading materials from or use of the Site.
IMI reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reasonably suspend or cancel the Contest should any virus, bug and/or other cause beyond the control of Microsoft corrupt the administration, security or proper operation of the Contest. In the event the Contest is cancelled, Microsoft may, at its sole discretion, determine the winners from among all eligible and non-suspect Validated Entries received up to the time of such action using the judging procedure outlined above.
E. Indemnification
Participants agree to release, defend, indemnify and hold harmless Released Parties from and against, and accept all responsibility of any kind, including but not limited to financial, for any liability, claims, losses, damages or proceedings, including but not limited for death, (including reasonable attorneys' fees) relating to any actions taken by a Participant, including anyone else using a Participant’s e-mail or password or otherwise purporting to act on Participant’s behalf in regard to the Contest (whether or not such use occurred with or without your permission). Participant also agrees to release, defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Released Parties from any and all liability, claims, losses, damages or proceedings, including but not limited for death (including reasonable attorneys' fees) relating to Contest Prizes and any other matter in connection with a Participant’s participation in the Contest or IMI or its designees.
F. Participants’ Affidavits, Contest Consent and Releases
As a condition to participation in the Contest and receipt and acceptance of a Contest Prize, a Participate may, in IMI’s sole discretion, be required to execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability Release and where lawful, a Publicity and Submission Release and License (“Publicity Release”), within fourteen (14) days of the date of winning status notification. A Publicity Release will include: consent by a winner and/or his or her employer/principal for Microsoft and those acting under its control to use a winner's name, picture, voice, likeness, and the name, description and Robot comprising winner’s entry, worldwide in perpetuity, for the purposes of Contest-related advertising, promotion and publicity, and additionally including those specific purposes disclosed on the Site, without further compensation, notification or permission, unless prohibited by law. Permission is specifically granted for Sponsor and its designees to promote winning entries in perpetuity in any medium now or hereafter known it may see fit including, but not limited to, website, television, radio and/or printed materials. Without limitation, if the foregoing documents are not executed by the prescribed persons noted therein and returned timely, or if notification is returned as non-deliverable, or if a Participant is found to be ineligible or otherwise not in compliance with these Rules, a Contest Prize may be forfeited at the sole discretion of IMI. Contest Prizes won by eligible minors in their state, province, country or other jurisdiction of residence shall be awarded to eligible minor’s parent or legal guardian who must sign and return all required documentation and otherwise fulfill all requirements imposed on winners set forth herein.
G. Tax Consequences
Participation and receipt of benefits from the Contest may have tax consequences in certain instances. IMI encourages Participants to speak with their tax advisors prior to participation and receipt and acceptance of Contest Prizes to prevent any undesired results. Should there be any tax liability for participation in the Contest or the receipt of a Contest Prize, or costs or expenses relating to participation in the Contest not specifically assumed by IMI or for the use and enjoyment of any Contest Prizes, or for any other reason, such taxes and/or expenses are the sole responsibility of the Participant. Sponsor will issue Contest-related tax reporting, as may be required by applicable laws and regulations. Sponsor may withhold certain amounts payable to foreign entities as it determines are necessary and advisable under US Tax laws, rules and regulations.
H. Copyright Notice
Subject to the Terms of Use posted on the Site, nothing on the Site or on any other IMI website, or Participant’s use of the services or products related hereto, shall be construed as conferring any license or other rights under the intellectual property or other proprietary rights of IMI, its subsidiaries or affiliates or any third party, whether by estoppels, implication or otherwise. The software and programming code and media relating to the Site and Contest-related communication is protected by the laws of copyright, trademark, patent, unfair competition and other proprietary laws.
I. Winners List
Winners names will be posted on the Site on or after October 15, 2006.
K. Contest Sponsor
The Sponsor of this Contest is IM Interactive Corp., 11 Asylum Street, Hartford, Connecticut 06103 (U.S.A.).. General Contest-related inquiries or questions may additionally be sent to ()
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