Rules for PC World's Digital Focus Photo Contest

PLEASE REVIEW THESE OFFICIAL RULES BEFORE ENTERING THE CONTEST.

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE AN INDIVIDUAL'S CHANCES OF WINNING.

General Conditions: PC World's Hot Pic of the Week Contest (the "Contest") is sponsored by PC World Communications, Inc. (the "Sponsor"). Those who enter the Contest (each, an "Entrant") agree to abide by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of the Sponsor relating to the Contest, which are final and binding in all respects. The Contest shall be governed by these Official Rules, the laws of the State of California, and applicable U.S. federal law, without regard to any conflict of laws principles. The Contest is void where prohibited by law. The Contest is also governed by the Sponsor's Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and other policies pertaining to the Web site (collectively, the "Policies"), though these Official Rules will govern any conflict between any of the Policies and these Official Rules.

Who Can Enter: Any natural person who is a legal U.S. or Canadian resident (except residents of Quebec and Puerto Rico), age 18 or older. Professional photographers (those who make more than 50 percent of their income from photography) are not eligible to participate or win. The editor and/or author of the Digital Focus newsletter, officers, directors, and employees of the Sponsor, or its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, agents, or advertising or promotion agencies, and any other person or entity involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Contest and any immediate family member (or person living in the household) of any of the foregoing are not eligible to participate or win.

How to Enter: Entrants may enter once every week until the close of the Contest. No fee or purchase of any kind is required to enter or win. Entrants may only enter the Contest in the following way:

• Send via e-mail one digital photograph in JPEG format at a resolution no larger than 640 by 480 pixels, along with the title of the photo, a short description of the photo, and your name, e-mail address, and postal address (collectively, an "Entry"), to the author of the Digital Focus newsletter at hotpic@pcworld.com.

Entries cannot contain any nudity, obscenity, defamatory statements, or other offensive or objectionable content. Entries that do not meet the size, formatting, and content specifications will not be eligible. Only one Entry per week per Entrant will be accepted.

The Entrant who submits an Entry in the Contest must be the owner and the photographer of the photo included in the Entry. Entrants may not submit an Entry on behalf of someone else. All Entries must be the Entrant's own original work and must not have been published elsewhere at any time. All Entries become the property of the Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned.

All Entries must be received no later than 5 p.m. Friday (PT) each week. Entries received after this time will not be disqualified but will be entered in the following week's contest.

How to Win (First Level): One winner will be selected each week by the editor and/or author of PC World's Digital Focus newsletter (the "Judges") from all eligible Entries. Winning photos will be selected on the basis of creativity (1/3), originality (1/3), and technique (1/3). The Judges' decisions will be final. Each weekly winner will be selected on or around 11 a.m. (PT) on the first Wednesday of the following week.

How to Win (Second Level): One winner will be selected each month by the editor and/or author of PC World's Digital Focus newsletter from the pool of weekly winners for each month. The weeks included in each month shall include all full weeks falling entirely within that month, as well as any week beginning in the previous month and ending in that month. Winning photos will be selected on the basis of creativity (1/3), originality (1/3), and technique (1/3). The Judges' decisions will be final. Each monthly winner will be selected on or around 11 a.m. (PT) on the first Wednesday of the following month.

Weekly Prize: The name of each weekly winner will be published in the Digital Focus column on the PC World Web site, along with a link to the winning photo.

Monthly Prize: Each monthly winner will receive a gift from PC World, such as a PC World CD carrying case. The monthly prizes may vary each month and will be determined by the Judges, but in no event shall the estimated retail price of any monthly prize be less than $15 or exceed $50. The prize(s) are nonexchangeable, nontransferable, and nonredeemable for cash, and no substitutions are allowed. All taxes, fees, and surcharges on any prize are the sole responsibility of the winner.

Number of Winners: There will be one (1) winner each week selected from the eligible Entries received for such week. In addition, there will be one (1) winner each month, selected from the pool of weekly winners for such month. The odds of being a weekly winner depend on the number of eligible Entries received. For weekly winners, the odds of being a monthly winner are approximately 1 in 4.

Winner Notification: The weekly and monthly winners will be notified via e-mail approximately 48 hours after the winner has been selected. Winners may be requested to provide the Sponsor with proof that he or she is the Authorized Account Holder of the e-mail address associated with the winning Entry. "Authorized Account Holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the e-mail address. In the event of a dispute, an Entry will be deemed to have been submitted by the Authorized Account Holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. Only monthly winners will need to provide full mailing address information to the Sponsor for the purpose of receiving his or her prize. Each monthly winner may also be asked to verify his or her social security number or tax identification number.

Representations: By entering the Contest, each Entrant represents and warrants to the Sponsor that: (i) the Entrant meets all eligibility requirements of the Contest; (ii) the Entrant is the Authorized Account Holder of the e-mail address listed in the Entry; (iii) in preparing the Entry and participating in the Contest, the Entrant has complied in all respects with these Official Rules, the Policies, and all applicable statutes, orders, regulations, and other laws; and (iv) the Entry consists entirely of the Entrant's own original work in which the Entrant holds all necessary rights, including without limitation copyrights, trademark rights, and rights of publicity.

Release: By entering the Contest, each Entrant releases and holds harmless the Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies, the prize manufacturers, each of their respective parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, and representatives from any and all damages, losses, liabilities, costs, or expenses of any kind arising out of or resulting from: (i) any violation by Entrant of these Official Rules; (ii) the Contest or the Entry; (iii) the acceptance, possession, receipt, or use of any prize; (iv) any incorrect, incomplete, or garbled information caused by any technical or human error that may occur in the operation of the Contest, including without limitation printing or typographical errors in any Contest materials; (v) any problems or technical malfunctions (errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, or delays in operation or transmission) of any computer, telephone, modem, online system, server, or other communications equipment or provider; (vi) any failure of e-mail on account of Internet traffic congestion or otherwise (proof of transmission does not constitute proof of delivery); and (vii) any Entry, e-mail, or other material or correspondence that has been tampered with or that is stolen, misdirected, incomplete, lost, late, nonconforming, ineligible, or damaged. ALL PRIZES ARE GIVEN AWAY BY THE SPONSOR "AS IS." THE SPONSOR DOES NOT MAKE AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION IMPLIED AND STATUTORY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT), WITH REGARD TO ANY PRIZE(S) OR PORTION(S) THEREOF.

Misconduct: The Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any Entrant who (i) tampers with the entry process, the operation of the Contest, or the Web site or affiliated Web sites; (ii) acts in an unsporting or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy or harass another person; or (iii) is otherwise in violation of these Official Rules or the Policies. Any attempt by an Entrant to commit any of the acts of misconduct set forth in this section may be a violation of civil and criminal law, and the Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from such Entrant to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Termination: The Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to suspend, modify, or terminate the Contest at any time. If, at any time, the Sponsor is unable to operate the Contest during any week as planned (e.g., without limitation, due to financial or administrative difficulties, or to fraud or technical failures such as a computer virus, bug, or other form of unauthorized intervention that corrupts the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest), the Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, suspend, modify, or terminate the Contest for that week, that month, or indefinitely. Should the Contest ever be terminated, notice will be given in PC World's Digital Focus newsletter, and the Sponsor will make alternate arrangements to award any prize offered during the week and month in which the Contest is terminated. In no event will the Sponsor have any obligation to award any prize(s) for subsequent weeks or months.

Use of Winners' Information: Each Entrant acknowledges and agrees that each Entry becomes the property of the Sponsor. By entering the Contest, each Entrant grants to the Sponsor the right to use and publish the Entrant's name, photo, photo description, and state of residence, along with any other information in the winning Entry, both electronically (for example, on the Internet) and in print, in connection with the Contest at any time, except to the extent prohibited by law and unless the Entrant has sent to the Sponsor a specific request in writing instructing the Sponsor not to publish the Entrant's name and state of residence. By accepting a prize, each winner acknowledges and agrees to the use by the Sponsor, without additional compensation, of his or her name, likeness, photo, and photo title and description for purposes of advertising, trade, and promotion, except to the extent prohibited by law. In addition, the Sponsor reserves the right to use any and all information related to the Contest, including information on Entrants received through the Contest, in any manner permitted by the Policies.

Miscellaneous: Any dispute between the Sponsor and an Entrant arising out of or relating to these Official Rules, the Contest, or any prize must be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in San Francisco, California, and the Sponsor and each Entrant irrevocably waive any objection to the venue and jurisdiction of such courts. If any part of these Official Rules is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or otherwise unenforceable, such part will be modified by such court to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable while preserving to the maximum extent possible the original intent of the Sponsor, and the remaining parts of these Official Rules will remain in full force and effect.

Winner's List: For the name of the winner(s) for any week or month, please mail a written request, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope, to:

Hot Pic of the Week Winner's List
PC World Communications, Inc.
Attention: Web Site Customer Service
501 Second St.
San Francisco, CA 94107

Intellectual Property: These Official Rules and all Contest-related Web pages and code are copyright of the Sponsor. Copying or unauthorized use of any copyrighted materials, trademarks, or any other intellectual property without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited.