Full rules
AWS re:Invent Alexa Skill Contest
OFFICIAL RULES
Please read these rules before entering the AWS re:Invent Alexa Skill Contest (“Contest”). The goal of the Contest is to encourage individuals to build innovative new skills for Alexa, the voice service that powers Amazon Echo. By posting a submission, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Amazon Digital Services LLC (“Sponsor”, “we”, “our” or “us”) and the judges, and that you satisfy all eligibility requirements.
ELIGIBILITY.
Open to individuals who are (1) registered to attend AWS re:Invent 2016, (2) at or above the age of majority in their country, state, province and jurisdiction of residence at the time of Submission; and (3) not a resident of a jurisdiction under U.S. export controls or sanctions (each, a “Participant”). Contest is void in Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Sudan, the region of Crimea, and where prohibited by law. Participants may not be members of any guild, union or other organization that may prohibit them from participating in this Contest and that would restrict, require due payment or otherwise have the right to oppose such participant’s participation in this Contest. Directors, officers, employees, interns, and contractors (“Personnel”) of Sponsor, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and their respective advertising, promotion and public relations agencies, representatives, and agents (collectively, “Contest Entities”), immediate families members of such Personnel (parents, siblings, children, spouses, and life partners of each) and members of the households of such Personnel (whether related or not) are ineligible to participate in this Contest.
Participants may participate in the Contest by themselves or participate as a “Team” consisting of up to four (4) Participants. Each Participant is only permitted to be part of one Team. If a Participant elects to participate on their own they cannot also participate with a Team. Any Participant that is part of more than one (1) Team may be disqualified and his/her corresponding Teams may be disqualified as well at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Only one (1) member of the Team may post a submission on behalf of a Team but all those listed on the registration will be deemed Participants. All prizes and/or prize money will be split evenly among the members of a winning Team, as identified on the online registration. Additionally, all winning Team members will split any and all tax obligations and withholdings that may be applicable dependent on the value of the prize money awarded to each Team member. Each winning Team member will be solely responsible for tax obligations and withholdings solely related to the portion of the prize they receive. Each Participant must be eligible to participate in this Contest and comply with these Official Rules or the Participant will and the Team associated with any Participant in question may be disqualified. This Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, territorial, provincial and local laws. By participating in the Contest, all Participants unconditionally accept and agree to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor which will be final and binding including the Sponsor’s right to verify eligibility, to interpret these Official Rules, and to resolve any disputes relating to this Contest at any time. Only Participants or Team members may work on their submission, without the influence of any other individuals.
HOW TO ENTER.
Contest begins at 12:00:01 p.m. (PT) on November 14, 2016 and ends at 10:00:01 a.m. (PT) on December 1, 2016 (the “Submission Period”). To participate, during the Submission Period you must go to https://www.hackster.io/contests/alexa-reinvent and follow the instructions to (i) create a free developer.amazon.com account (or log in if you already have an account); (ii) create a free Hackster.io account that uses the same email address as your developer.amazon.com account; (iii) register as a Contest Participant by clicking the “Register as a Participant” button on the page; and (iv) submit an original Alexa Skill that you and/or your Team created and uploaded
using the “Submit my Final Submission” button (each, a “Submission”).
All Submissions must be received by 10:00:01 a.m. (PT) on December 1, 2016. Limit one Submission per Participant/Team throughout the Submission Period. In the event any Participant or Team submits more than one (1) Submission, the last Submission received by Sponsor will be deemed that Participant’s/Team’s Submission. Participants assume all risk of lost, late, misdirected, incomplete, or unintelligible Submissions.
Sponsor’s (or its contractor’s) servers and clock shall be deemed the official clock for all phases of the Contest, and participant’s proof of a submission does not constitute proof of receipt by Sponsor. Sponsor is not responsible for (i) lost, misdirected, late, incomplete, or unintelligible Submissions or for inaccurate Submission information, whether caused by participant or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest, or by any technical or human error that may occur in the processing of Submissions; or (ii) any printing, production, human or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest.
Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and unfettered discretion to disqualify at any time any Submission containing obscene, offensive, pornographic or sexually explicit material, or libelous, disparaging, infringing or other inappropriate content or subject matter (as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion).
CONDITIONS OF SUBMISSION.
Each Participant/Team must follow and meet the following requirements when posting a Submission:
- Submissions are the original work of the Participant/Team or an update to an original work of the Participant/Team;
- Skills included as part of a Submission must be eligible for publication on the Alexa skills store, including compliance with our content guidelines available at https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/alexa-skills-kit-policy-testing;
- Submissions do not infringe or violate the rights of any third party, including but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks or copyrighted material not owned by the Participant/Team, contract and licensing rights, rights of publicity or privacy, moral rights, or any other intellectual property rights; and
- Submissions are not subject to any third party agreements, and that Sponsor will not be required to pay or incur any sums to any person or entity as a result of its ownership, acquisition, use or exploitation of the Submissions or rights therein.
Additional Requirements
All Submissions must comply with the terms applicable to “Alexa Skills” in Sponsor’s App Distribution and Services Agreement, as updated from time to time (the “ADSA”), and all Program Policies (as such term is defined in the ADSA), including content guidelines that prohibit derogatory or sexually explicit content, that promote an illegal activity or skills directed to children under the age of 13. Submissions that cause any harm, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, will be disqualified from the Contest. Submissions may not request any personal or personally identifiable information from Alexa customers. Questionable designs or content must be cleared with Sponsor prior to the Contest. All Submissions must interact with users using only the English language. Any Participants/Teams using Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) Lambda or other AWS services must agree to the terms of the AWS Customer Agreement, as revised from time to time, although Participants/Teams may use other frameworks or web services in order to build their Submission.
Sponsor is collecting personal information primarily to process the Submissions and to contact you if necessary, but also to potentially contact you for marketing purposes. If you do not wish to be contacted for marketing purposes, you will be provided with a method to opt-out from future communications. You may update or change your “E-mail Preferences & Notifications” in your Amazon account. Sponsor will share your information with third parties that have a need to know, such as the judging panel, and by entering, you agree to the sharing of your information with the judging panel and third parties Sponsor retains to assist in administering the Contest. If you do not agree to these terms or to Sponsor’s privacy notice located at www.amazon.com/privacy, please do not post a Submission.
JUDGING.
On December 1, 2016 each Submission will be rated by a panel of qualified judges selected by Sponsor using the following criteria: (a) Creativity (20%); (b) Use of Voice User Interface (VUI) best practices (15%); (c) Story/Instruction – Show how you created your project, including images, screenshots, and/or video (15%); (d) Submitted Skill (20%); (e) Project Documentation including VUI diagram (10%); (f) Code – Include working code with helpful comments (10%); and (g) Great photographs, videos and screenshots (10%) (collectively, the “Judging Criteria”). Submissions that use AWS Lambda will be eligible for an additional 15% judging bonus for a potential maximum total score of 115. The one (1) Submission with the highest score will be deemed the potential Grand Prize winner, subject to verification and compliance with these Official Rules. The ten (10) Submissions with the next highest scores will be deemed potential First Prize winners, subject to verification and compliance with these Official Rules. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken by a separate additional judge who will score the tied Submissions solely on Innovation.
In the event a potential winner’s Submission is disqualified, the Participant/Team who submitted the next highest rated Submission will be selected as a potential winner, and must comply with the requirements in these Official Rules. All decisions of the Sponsor and judges are final and binding.
PRIZES.
One Grand Prize winner will receive a Grand Prize package, which has a total approximate retail value (“ARV”) of up to $10,719.96 USD and includes:
1. A limited edition gold Amazon Echo device (one (1) per team member, up to four (4) devices total), awarded at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, NV; and
2. $10,000.00 USD cash award (which will be split evenly among each member of a winning Team, if applicable) will be distributed to the winners by Hackster.io.
Each First Prize winner will receive an Amazon Echo device (one (1) per team member, up to four (4) devices total) which has a maximum ARV of $719.96 USD each First Prize set. These prizes will be fulfilled by Hackster.io.
The maximum total ARV for all ten (10) First Prizes and the Grand Prize combined is $17,919.56. Each First Prize winner and Grand Prize winner will be responsible for paying all costs and expenses related to the prize that are not specifically mentioned, including, but not limited to, taxes, and any other expenses that might reasonably be incurred by the winner in receiving or using the prize. Each winner may be required to submit to Sponsor his/her social security number or tax payer ID number and W-8BEN, or other such tax filing information required by Sponsor in order to claim the prize. All prizes awarded will be inclusive of any taxes Sponsor is required by law to withhold as well as applicable sales, use, gross receipts, goods and service, or similar transaction based taxes. All other taxes, costs and expenses associated with acceptance and use of any prize not specified in these Official Rules as being provided are the sole responsibility of the winner. IF TAXES ARE APPLICABLE TO THE PRIZES, IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER TO PAY TO THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES. PAYMENTS TO CONTEST WINNERS ARE SUBJECT TO THE EXPRESS REQUIREMENT THAT THE WINNER SUBMIT TO SPONSOR ALL DOCUMENTATION REQUESTED BY SPONSOR TO PERMIT COMPLIANCE WITH ALL APPLICABLE STATE, FEDERAL, LOCAL AND FOREIGN (INCLUDING PROVINCIAL) TAX REPORTING AND WITHHOLDING REQUIREMENTS. Contest winners are responsible for ensuring that the tax documentation submitted to Sponsor complies with all applicable tax laws and requirements. If a winner fails to provide the documentation or submits incomplete documentation, the prize may be forfeited and Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, select an alternate winner.
Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize (or portion thereof) for an item of comparable or greater value, in its sole discretion. All prizes will be awarded “AS IS” and WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, express or implied (including, without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose). Limit one prize per person.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
For the avoidance of doubt as between Sponsor and Participants/Teams, all Submissions created by Participants/Teams will remain the property of the Participant/Team except to the extent a Participant/Team incorporated elements in their Submission owned by Sponsor, but Sponsor and its designees will have the rights to use the Submissions described below. By submitting a Submission in this Contest, each Participant/Team warrants and represents that he or she owns, or otherwise has the right to use, all of the intellectual and industrial property rights in and to the Submission. Further, each Participant/Team hereby grants Sponsor and its affiliates a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to (i) use, review, assess, test and otherwise analyze your Submission in connection with this Contest, and (ii) feature your Submission and all content contained therein in connection with the marketing or promotion of this Contest.
Except where prohibited, each prize winner further consents (and agrees to sign any additional documents required by Sponsor to formalize, effect or perfect such consent) to Contest Entities’ use of Submissions as specified herein and the use of any Participant/Team names, likeness (photograph), biographical information, and voice in advertising/publicity/trade (including local and/or national television stations or print publications that may be covering any element of this Contest) worldwide without compensation, notice or approval, and prize winner disclaims any ownership rights to the content of such advertising/publicity/trade material.
USE OF SUBMISSION, PERSONAL DATA, WAIVER, RELEASE, AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.
Contest Entities and their Personnel will not enter into any correspondence, including email, with non-winning Participants/Teams relating to such Participants’ participation in the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual found tampering with the Submission process or Submission materials or otherwise interfering with the proper administration of the Contest or violating these Official Rules.
EACH PARTICIPANT ACCEPTS THE CONDITIONS STATED IN THESE OFFICIAL RULES, AGREES TO BE BOUND BY THE DECISIONS OF THE SPONSOR, WARRANTS THAT HE OR SHE IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CONTEST, AND AGREES TO RELEASE, INDEMNIFY, AND HOLD HARMLESS CONTEST ENTITIES AND THE PERSONNEL OF EACH FROM AND AGAINST ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, LOSSES, LIABILITY, AND DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND EXPENSES) ASSERTED AGAINST ANY OF THEM, INCURRED OR SUSTAINED IN CONNECTION WITH OR RISING OUT OF PARTICIPANT’S PARTICIPATION IN THIS CONTEST, USE OF ANY SUBMISSION OR RIGHTS THEREIN OR ANY TRAVEL OR ACTIVITY RELATED THERETO, BREACH OF ANY AGREEMENT OR WARRANTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONTEST, INCLUDING THESE OFFICIAL RULES. ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND, SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE CONTEST ENTITIES AND EACH OF THEIR LICENSEES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK ANY AND ALL REMEDIES AVAILABLE FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY SUCH ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
Each Participant/Team hereby acknowledges and agrees that the relationship between themselves and the Contest Entities is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship, and that the Participant’s/Team’s decision to provide the Submission to Sponsor for purposes of the Contest does not place the Contest Entities in a position that is any different from the position held by members of the general public with regard to elements of the Submission, other than as set forth in these Official Rules. Each Participant/Team understands and acknowledges that the Contest Entities have wide access to Submissions, technology, designs, and other materials, and that new ideas are constantly being submitted to them or being developed by their own employees. Each Participant also acknowledges that many ideas may be competitive with, similar to, or identical to the Submission in theme, idea, format, or other respects. Each Participant/Team acknowledges and agrees that such Participant/Team will not be entitled to any compensation as a result of Contest Entities' use of any such similar or identical material that has or may come to Contest Entities, or any of them, from other sources. Participants acknowledge that other Participants/Teams may have created ideas and concepts contained in their Submission design that may have familiarities or similarities to their Submission design, and that they will not be entitled to any compensation or right to negotiate with the Contest Entities because of these familiarities or similarities. Participants also acknowledge that the Contest Entities will not restrict work assignments or representatives who have had access to your Submissions. By entering this Contest, Participants agree that use of information in the Contest Entities’ representatives’ unaided memories in the development or deployment of Contest Entities’ products or services does not create liability for Contest Entities under these Official Rules or copyright or trade secret law.
Participants/Teams further agree that the Contest Entities are not responsible for the following: (a) electronic transmissions, Submissions or notifications that are lost, late, stolen, incomplete, damaged, garbled, destroyed, misdirected or not received by Sponsor or their agents for any reason; (b) any problems or technical malfunctions, errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, delays in operation or transmission, communication failures and/or human error that may occur in the transmission, shipping errors or delays, receipt or processing of Submissions or related materials; or for destruction of or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, Submissions or related material; (c) failed or unavailable hardware, network, software or telephone transmissions, damage to Participants’ or any person’s computer and/or its contents related to or resulting from participation in this Contest; (d) causes that jeopardize the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest; (e) any Submissions posted in a manner that is not expressly allowed under these Official Rules (all such Submissions will be disqualified); or (f) any printing errors in these Official Rules or in any advertisements or correspondence in connection with this Contest or judging. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend this Contest should virus, bugs, fraud, hacking, or other causes corrupt the administration, security, or proper play of the Contest. In such cases, notice to this effect will be posted on the Contest Site and prizes to the extent awarded will be awarded as determined by Sponsor prior to cancellation. If, in Sponsor’s opinion, there is any suspected or actual evidence of electronic or non-electronic tampering with any portion of the Contest or if technical difficulties compromise the integrity of the Contest, the Sponsor reserves the right to void suspect Submissions and/or terminate the Contest and award prizes in its sole discretion.
WINNER NOTIFICATION.
The potential Grand and First Prize winners will be required to sign and return an Eligibility Affidavit; Liability and Publicity Release or other such form as requested by Sponsor. Prior to awarding a prize, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, require the potential Finalists and Grand Prize winner to sign such additional documents Sponsor decides are necessary to confirm eligibility, to obtain a liability/publicity release, and to award any prize. Failure to return any required document by the date requested by Sponsor will deem the winner as ineligible to receive the prize. If any documentation is not returned by the specified dates and times or if a potential winner is deemed ineligible prior to the prize being awarded, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, award the prize to the next Participant/Team receiving the next highest score.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Contest and all accompanying materials are copyright © 2016 by Amazon Digital Services LLC. All rights reserved. By entering, participants agree to be bound by these rules. No transfer, assignment, cash redemption or substitution of prizes is permitted except by Sponsor due to prize availability and then with prizes of equal or greater value. Participants/Teams agree (for themselves and their heirs) that the Released Parties will have no liability, and will be held harmless by such participants to the maximum extent permitted by law for any liability, loss, injury, or damage to property or to person, including death, and reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by reason of participation in the Contest, or by reason of the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prizes, even if caused or contributed to by the negligence of any of the Released Parties. Contest is governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Washington, USA. As a condition of participating in this Contest, participants agree that any and all disputes which cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with this Contest, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court located in King County, Washington, USA having jurisdiction. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances will participants be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waive all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, including attorneys' fees, other than participant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (e.g. costs associated with entering), and participant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased. Participants agree that the decisions of Sponsor and the judges related to the Contest are final. By participating in the Contest, participants consent to the use of their names, biographical information, Submissions, images and/or likenesses in any manner and in any medium for any purpose in connection with the Contest, including worldwide, without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.
WINNERS’ LIST. After the winners are confirmed, the winners’ names will be posted at https://www.hackster.io/contests/alexa-reinvent until March 1, 2017.
SPONSOR. Amazon Digital Services LLC, 410 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA, 98109 USA.