Verizon Developer Network
Contest Rules & Regulations

The Verizon "Apply Your Ideas" Application Development Contest

Official Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

Contest may only be entered in or from the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and entries originating from any other jurisdiction are not eligible for entry. This Contest is governed exclusively by the laws of the United States. You are not authorized to participate in the Contest if you are not located within the United States.

1. How to Enter. To enter the Contest, register on the Contest Website at www.applyyourideas.com (including your name, mailing address, phone number, date of birth, email address), complete the online entry form (including a detailed description of your application (“Application Concept”) and your Application Category (as defined below)), read the Official Rules, attach/upload your application binaries (“Application Binaries”) and click the “submit” button. As part of such submission, entrants acknowledge and agree that, in order to receive any prize in this Contest, entrants must complete registration with the Verizon Developer Community Website at http://developer.verizon.com and agree to and be bound by the standard Verizon Developer Community Application License Agreement (“Developer Distribution Agreement”) in effect at the time of entry (available at http://developer.verizon.com and www.applyyourideas.com). In the event of any conflict between these Official Rules and the Developer Distribution Agreement, the Developer Distribution Agreement will control. Entrants can submit Application Concepts and Application Binaries through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight time on September 20, 2009. For Application Concepts that are entered by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight time on September 20, 2009, entrants can submit Application Binaries through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight time on September 27, 2009.

Applications must be compatible with the BlackBerry® Storm™ and require the BlackBerry Java Development Environment v4.5 Component Pack and BlackBerry Java Development Environment Plug-in for Eclipse v1.0, including the Eclipse 3.4, which are available free of charge at http://developer.verizon.com/jsps/devCenters/Smart_Phone/index.jsp. Entrants may, but are not required to, use other third party software to develop applications. Entrants are solely responsible for obtaining other third party software they choose to use. Application Submissions must include the .jad, the .jar, and the .cod files and must not be larger than 2 MB. Applications must comply with Verizon’s application content guidelines located at http://developer.verizon.com. Applications must be new RIM BlackBerry applications which have not previously been made commercially available for RIM BlackBerry. Applications that do not comply with all of these requirements, are not compatible with the BlackBerry Storm, and/or do not function will be disqualified.

All entry information, including Application Concepts and Application Binaries, shall be collectively referred to herein as the “Application Submissions” or each as an “Application Submission.” Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless (“Sponsor”) reserves the right to cancel or modify this Contest in the event an insufficient number of entries are received that meet the minimum judging criteria.

The Application Categories ("Application Categories") are:

CONNECT (Social, Networking, Communication tools, News, Weather, and Sports)
ENTERTAIN (Games, Entertainment, Music, Video, Books and Multimedia)
GUIDE (LBS, Travel, and Dining)
SAVE TIME (Productivity, Tools/Utilities, Business, Finance, and Reference)
ENHANCE LIVING (Lifestyle, Health, Security, and Shopping)

By entering, each entrant warrants and represents the following with respect to their Application Submission: (a) entrant is the sole and exclusive owner of the Application Submission; (b) the Application Submission is entrant’s own creation and is 100% original; (c) the Application Submission will not infringe on any rights of any third parties; (d) any third parties appearing in the Application Submission have given entrant appropriate consent to be used as permitted herein; and (e) the entrant has all appropriate rights to use, and to grant Sponsor the right to use, any third party content or software used to develop or contained in the Application Submission.

All entrants must have a valid email address. There is no limit to the number of Application Submissions an entrant can submit. No automated entry devices and/or programs permitted. Receipt of entries will not be acknowledged. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, stolen, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, misdirected, technically corrupted or garbled entries, which will be disqualified, or for problems of any kind whether mechanical, human or electronic. Only fully completed entry forms are eligible. Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor.

2. Start/End Dates. Contest begins at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on August 14, 2009 and ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on September 27, 2009.

3. Eligibility. Participation open only to legal residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia who are at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in their state, whichever is older) as of date of entry. Void outside of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. Employees, officers and directors of Sponsor and its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, dealers, advertising and promotion agencies, manufacturers or distributors of Contest materials and their immediate families (parents, children, siblings, spouse) or members of the same household (whether related or not) of such employees, officers, and directors are not eligible to enter. You are not authorized to participate in the Contest if you are not located within the United States or the District of Columbia. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.

4. Judging/Judging Criteria. Sponsor reserve the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to disqualify any Application Submissions that are inappropriate for any reason, including without limitation, for depicting or mentioning sex, violence, drugs, alcohol and/or inappropriate language.

Applications will be posted for voting at www.applyyourideas.com. Individuals who are registered with the Verizon Developer Community Website ("Registered Developers") are eligible to vote and may cast one vote per Application Category per day between noon Pacific Daylight Time on September 30, 2009 through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on October 4, 2009. Registered Developers will be asked to vote based upon the following criteria: innovation, quality and consumer appeal, giving equal weight to each criterion. On October 6, 2009, Sponsor will announce the five (5) Applications with the most votes in each Application Category ("Semi-Finalists").

The Semi-Finalists’ Applications will be posted for voting at www.applyyourideas.com. All Registered Developers are eligible to vote and may cast one vote per Application Category per day between 12:01 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on October 7, 2009 through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on October 18, 2009. Registered Developers will be asked to vote based upon the following criteria: innovation, quality and consumer appeal, giving equal weight to each criterion. The Application that receives the most votes between 12:01 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on October 7, 2009 through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on October 18, 2009 will be deemed the People’s Choice Winner. The Application that receives the most votes for its Application Category between 12:01 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on October 7, 2009 through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on October 18, 2009 will be deemed the Application Category Winner.

The Grand Prize Winner will be chosen from the Application Category Winners by a panel of judges that have the required knowledge and experience to apply the judging criteria (the “Judges”). The Application Category winners’ Applications will be judged based on the following judging criteria: (a) Originality and Innovation (25%); (b) Quality of Product (25%); (c) Product or Service Appeal (20%); (d) Technical Execution (20%); and (e) Value Proposition (10%). All winners will be announced by Sponsor on October 30, 2009.

By entering the Contest, entrants fully and unconditionally agree to be bound by these rules and the decisions of the Judges, which will be final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest.

5. Prizes. The following prizes will be awarded:

One (1) Grand Prize (approximate retail value ("ARV") $50,000 plus Application Revenue):
  • $50,000 cash prize
  • 200% of Application revenue actually received by Verizon Wireless relating to the sale of the winning Application (the “Application Revenue”) for the first twelve (12) months Application is available on V CAST Apps to a maximum of Application Revenue plus $100,000
  • Application will be featured on www.verizonwireless.com for (2) weeks
  • Application will be integrated into Verizon’s marketing for the Penske Racing/Verizon Championship Racing program
  • Application will be integrated in event materials in Dew Action Sports Winter Games/Verizon Wireless program
  • Application will be included in select Verizon Wireless marketing communication materials
  • Application will be featured in the V CAST Apps storefront for two (2) weeks
One (1) People's Choice Prize (ARV $25,000 plus Application Revenue):
  • $25,000 cash prize
  • 100% of Application Revenue for the first twelve (12) months Application is available on V CAST Apps
  • Application will be featured in the relevant category storefront of V CAST Apps for one (1) week
  • Application will be included in select Verizon Wireless marketing communication materials
Five (5) First Place Prizes (one (1) for each Application Category) (ARV $12,500):
  • $10,000 cash prize
  • A Verizon Wireless device with a retail value up to $500 and $2000 Verizon Wireless Gift Card
  • Application will be featured in the relevant category storefront of V CAST Apps for one (1) week
  • Application will be included in select Verizon Wireless marketing communication materials

Prizes are non-transferable. No substitutions or cash redemptions. Application Revenue applies to winning Application only and not to any other applications submitted by entrant. For any prize that includes inclusion or integration in advertising, sponsorship, promotional or marketing materials, such inclusion and/or integration, and the extent thereof, will be at Sponsor’s sole discretion.

6. Notification. Winners will be notified by email and will be required to sign and return, where legal, an Affidavit of Eligibility and/or Liability/Publicity Release within five (5) days of prize notification. Additionally, winners may be required to obtain releases or appropriate licenses from any and all third parties appearing in, or third party content used in or in connection with, their respective Application Submissions. If any winner is considered a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, Affidavit of Eligibility and/or Liability/Publicity must be signed by his/her parent or legal guardian. If any winner cannot be contacted within five (5) calendar days of first notification attempt, if any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, if any winner rejects his/her prize or in the event of noncompliance with these Contest rules and requirements, such prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to the Application Submission with the next highest score. Upon prize forfeiture, no compensation will be given.

7. Conditions. Sponsor shall not be liable or responsible in the event Application Submissions (including Grand Prize, People’s Choice and/or First Prize Application Submissions) are not used for any reason. Any and all federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winners. Participation in Contest and acceptance of prize constitutes each winner’s permission for Sponsor to use his/her name, address (city and state), likeness, photograph, picture, portrait, voice, biographical information, Application Submission and/or any statements made by each winner regarding the Contest or Sponsor for advertising and promotional purposes without notice or additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. By participating, entrants and winners agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors, from any and all liability, for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense whatsoever including without limitation, property damage, personal injury and/or death which may occur in connection with, preparation for, travel to, or participation in Contest, or possession, acceptance and/or use or misuse of prize or participation in any Contest-related activity and for any claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement or any other intellectual property-related cause of action. Entrants who do not comply with these Official Rules, or attempt to interfere with this Contest in any way shall be disqualified.

8. Additional Terms. Any attempted form of entry other than as set forth in Section 1 above is prohibited; no automatic, programmed, robotic or similar means of entry are permitted. Sponsor, its affiliates, partners and promotion and advertising agencies are not responsible for technical, hardware, software, telephone or other communications malfunctions, errors or failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, web site, Internet, or ISP availability, unauthorized human intervention, traffic congestion, incomplete or inaccurate capture of entry information (regardless of cause) or failed, incomplete, garbled, jumbled or delayed computer transmissions which may limit one’s ability to enter the Contest, including any injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading any materials in this Contest. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, extend or suspend this Contest should (in its sole discretion) virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds, in its sole discretion, to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or web site. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that said entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated quick entry programs) or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or Sponsor representatives.

CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

9. Use of Data. Sponsor will be collecting personal data about entrants online, in accordance with its privacy policy. Please review the Sponsor’s privacy policy at www.verizonwireless.com/privacy. By participating in the Contest, entrants hereby agree to Sponsor’s collection and usage of their personal information and acknowledge that they have read and accepted Sponsor’s privacy policy.

10. List of Winners. To obtain a list of winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope by December 31, 2009 to Verizon, One Verizon Way – VC31W441, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920.

11. Sponsor. Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless
One Verizon Way
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920

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