Welcome to the June 2006 Windows CE Shared Source Contest! This page lists the official Contest Rules. At the bottom, you'll find links to other important information and resources.

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"Show-It-Off at the Shared Source Project Competition"

Official Rules

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Program description

The "Show-It-Off at the Shared Source Project Competition" (the "Contest") is a skill contest in which participants are asked to build a device prototype (the "Project") using the Shared Source DVR Engine and/or the Shared Source WebCam Driver for Windows CE for judging based on the criteria listed below. "You" or "entrant" means any eligible person who submits an entry for the Contest.

Entry period

The Contest begins at 12:01 a.m. (PDT) on May 22, 2006, and ends at 11:59 p.m. (PDT) on July 28, 2006 ("Entry Period"). The Contest is organized and administrated in the United States of America, and all entry information will be collected on servers in the U.S.

Eligibility

In order to participate in the Contest, you must be a professional or amateur embedded developer and 18 years or older; however, residents of the following countries are ineligible to participate due to legal constraints: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. Void where prohibited by law. Employees of Ziff Davis Media, Microsoft Corporation, and anyone working directly on the execution and administration of this Contest and/or anyone contributing directly to the development of Windows CE, and their respective affiliates, parent companies, subsidiaries, prize suppliers, promotion, advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members and persons living in the households of each, are not eligible to enter.

Project platform

You are free to choose whatever hardware platform and peripherals you want to develop your device prototype. However If you do not have a dedicated development board, you can develop your project on a PC via the CEPC emulator provided as part of Platform Builder.

How to enter

Submitting your project

To enter you must access the WindowsForDevices web site, navigate to the Contest submission page, and click on "submit a project."

The Project must be created on Windows CE using the Shared Source DVR Engine and/or the Shared Source WebCam Driver for Windows CE, subject to the applicable Microsoft software license. Your submission must include links to the following, which you make available online for public access, as described below (see: "Hosting for Others to See"):

• A White Paper (10 pages maximum) documenting your Project that includes:

• Description of the Project and what it does
  
  
• Technical explanation of how the Project works
  
  
• How the Shared Source DVR Engine and/or the Shared Source WebCam Driver were used

• A Video (10 minutes maximum) demonstrating the operation of your project (by way of example, the Media Box video)
  
  
• The source code to your modifications to the Shared Source DVR Engine and/or the Shared Source WebCam Driver, retaining each component's respective original Shared Source license
  
  
• Your Project's source code, preferably released under a license that offers users very broad use rights, as described below (see: "Hosting for Others to See")

You may participate as an individual or as a team consisting of a maximum of four people; however, you may only be associated with one entry. In other words, you cannot submit an entry as an individual and as a team -- you must choose one entry method. However, the prize will be awarded to the individual named on the entry as the team leader. The team leader is solely responsible for distributing the prize among team members and Ziff Davis Media and Microsoft Corporation disclaim any responsibility regarding disputes that may arise and will not mediate any discussions regarding prize distribution.

Rights for judging

By submitting a Project to the Contest, you give Ziff Davis Media, Microsoft and the Contest judges we select all rights necessary or convenient for judging your Project as part of the Contest. You agree that Ziff Davis Media, Microsoft and the Contest judges will be immune from all claims of copyright infringement or trade secret misappropriation arising from exposure to your submissions, including the source code for your Project, so long as Ziff Davis Media, Microsoft and the judges, as applicable, do not intentionally copy from your Project for any reason unrelated to the Contest. All information is collected in the United States by Ziff Davis Media, which will administer and oversee the judging process. Use of any personally identifiable information is subject to the terms set forth in Ziff Davis Media's Privacy Policy Statement referenced on the Contest entry page.

Hosting for others to see

In addition to submitting your Project via the submissions process described above, you must host the submitted White Paper, Video, Modified Shared Source and your source code, from the day of your submission and for three months after the end of the Entry Period, on a publicly accessible web site. You must submit that URL with your submission. Ziff Davis Media and Microsoft may, but are not obligated to, direct users to your URL to check out your Project. You may make the source code for your Project available under the license of your choice. However, we encourage you to make the source code available under a license that offers users very broad use rights, with few restrictions, and so would enable a larger community to come together for learning, collaboration, and reuse based on your Project. For an example, see the Microsoft Permissive License.

Appropriate content

The submitted Project and URLs may not contain content that Ziff Davis Media and Microsoft, in their sole discretion, deem offensive or inappropriate for public display, such as vulgarity, pornography, or messaging that is overtly political in nature. Once submitted, all eligible submissions will be cataloged and judged based on the criteria listed below.

Judging criteria

All eligible submissions will be judged and ranked by, our selected panel of qualified expert judges, based on the following criteria:

1. Application utility -- does it do something interesting, entertaining, or useful? Does it do it well? [weight: 25%]
   
   
2. Uniqueness of approach -- is it a new way to accomplish the desired task? [weight: 25%]
   
   
3. Quality of the content of the submitted documentation and video -- is it clear what the Project does, that it actually works as intended, and how it works? [weight: 25%]
   
   
4. Extension of the Shared Source DVR Engine and/or the Shared Source WebCam Driver feature set. [weight: 25%]

The White Paper and the video may be localized in the entrant’s language; however, it must be accompanied by an English transcript of the interface for English speaking judges.

Ziff Davis Media and Microsoft reserve the right to disqualify any submission not meeting the above criteria.

The judges' decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a winner, Ziff Davis Media and Microsoft reserve the right to determine the identity and/or to select an alternate winner.

On or about August 15th, 2006, four winners will be announced and notified via email.

Prizes

• One (1) Grand Prize -- the Ultimate Xbox 360 package (Estimated Retail Value, $2,500 USD), consisting of:
  • Xbox 360 game system
    
  • 34-inch HDTV
    
  • The winner's choice of five Xbox 360 games
    
  • Accessories for four gamers (three additional Wireless Controllers and four Play & Charge Kits)
    
  • Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter
    
  • Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote
    
  • Three Xbox 360 Faceplates (Hotrod, Silver and Woody)
    
  • Xbox Live 12-Month Premium Gold Pack
  
  
• Three (3) First Place Prizes -- an Xbox 360 game system (Estimated Retail Value, $399 USD)

No substitution of prizes is permitted. If a winner cannot or will not accept a prize, then prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to an alternate winner. Microsoft reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value if entire prize or a portion of the advertised prize is unavailable for any reason. Prize awards may be subject to country-specific restrictions.

All prize values in U.S. Dollars. Any applicable taxes on the prize, or expenses not listed herein, are the sole responsibility of the winner. Prizes may be subject to U.S. withholding taxes and non-U.S. winners (if any) may be required to complete an IRS W8-BEN.

General conditions

The submission must have been created and owned solely by the entrant and its team. The use and modification of a third party's pre-existing work is acceptable only if (1) it is done in strict accordance of the pre-existing work's licensing terms and if (2) pre-existing work is clearly listed and described in the submitted White Paper. The submission cannot defame or invade publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any third party's personal or proprietary rights. Submissions not complying with all rules are subject to disqualification.

Entrants shall not receive any compensation or credit for use of submissions, other than that disclosed in these rules. Entrants agree to be bound by the terms of these Official Rules.

In the event of a dispute, the laws of the State of Washington in the United States govern the Contest. All federal, provincial, state, and local laws and regulations apply. Potential winners will be required to execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability Release and where legal, Publicity Release, within seven (7) days following the date of issuance of notification. Non-compliance within this time period or return of any prize/prize notification as undeliverable may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.

Acceptance of prize constitutes permission for Microsoft Corporation and its agents to use winner's name and likeness for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation unless prohibited by law.

By entering, participants release and hold harmless Ziff Davis Media, Microsoft Corporation and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotions agencies, prize suppliers, and all of their employees, officers, directors, shareholder's and agents from any and all liability or any injuries, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with the Contest, the use of any submission, or the acceptance or use of any prize won unless prohibited by law.

Internet and submissions problems

Proof of e-mailing or submission does not constitute proof of delivery. Ziff Davis Media and Microsoft are not responsible for any lost, late, illegible, garbled or misdirected submissions, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, submissions, or errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, delays in operation or transmission, communications line failure, including without limitation any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or telephone lines, computer on-line systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or submission to be received on account of technical problems, human error or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to your or any other person's computer relating to or resulting from participation in the Contest or downloading of any materials in connection with the Contest.

If for any reason the Contest is not capable of running as planned due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, uploads of malicious files or viruses, or any other causes beyond the control of Ziff Davis Media or Microsoft Corporation which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Contest, Ziff Davis Media and Microsoft Corporation reserve the right at their sole discretion, to disqualify any submission or any individual who tampers with the submission or voting process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest and select winners using all eligible, non-suspect submissions and/or votes received as of the date of termination. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, ZIFF DAVIS MEDIA AND MICROSOFT CORPORATION RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Who won

A list of winners will be posted online after August 15th, 2006 on WindowsForDevices.com, a Ziff Davis Media web site.

Sponsor

The sponsor of the Contest is Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington, 98052-6399.


Further information

Click on the following link for a page full of useful resources:

Contest Resources

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