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OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

The Google Desktop Gadget Contest (the “Contest”) is designed to promote the creation of new Google Desktop Gadgets. Prizes will be awarded to those individuals who submit the best entries as determined by the judges in accordance with these Official Rules. Entry in the Contest constitutes your acceptance of these Official Rules.

  1. Eligibility: The Contest is open only to individuals who are at least 18 years old. Residents of the United States between the ages of 13 and 17 years old are eligible to participate in the Contest but will be required to submit a signed parental consent form in order to collect any prizes won. Contest is void in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Quebec and where prohibited by law. Residents of Iran, Sudan, Cuba, Syria, North Korea and Burma are not eligible to participate. Employees and agents of Google Inc. (the “Sponsor”), its affiliates, subsidiaries, and any entity involved in the development, production, implementation or fulfillment of the Contest, and the immediate family members (defined as parents, children, siblings and spouse) and persons living in the same household as such individuals are not eligible to participate. You must have access to the Internet and a valid e-mail address in order to enter.
  2. How To Enter: The Contest begins at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on June 27, 2006 (5:01 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on June 28, 2006) and ends at 11:59 p.m. PDT on August 14, 2006 (4:59 a.m. GMT on August 1, 2006) (the “Contest Period”). To enter, visit the Contest website at http://desktop.google.com/contest.html, complete the online registration form and follow the instructions to submit a new Google Desktop Gadget. All entries must be in English. Only eligible entries actually received by Sponsor before the end of the Contest Period will be considered. Illegible, unintelligible, incomplete or garbled entries will be disqualified. All entries submitted must represent the original work of the entrant and may not have been previously published or sold. If the same gadget is submitted multiple times by an entrant, only the last submission of that gadget within the Contest Period will be judged. The submission of an entry is solely the responsibility of the entrant. Automated entries (including but not limited to entries submitted using any bot, script, macro or contest service), copies, third-party entries, facsimiles and/or mechanical reproductions are not permitted and will be disqualified.
  3. Conduct: By entering the Contest, entrants agree to comply with and be bound by these Official Rules, which will be posted at the Contest website at http://desktop.google.com/contest.html throughout the Contest. Failure to comply with the Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Contest. Entrants further agree to comply with and be bound by the decisions of the judges, which are final and binding in all respects. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any entrant it finds to be: (1) tampering or attempting to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Contest; (2) violating the Official Rules; (3) violating the terms of service, conditions of use or general rules or guidelines of any Google property or service; or (4) acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person. Any false information provided within the context of the Contest by any entrant concerning identity, postal address, ownership of right or non-compliance with Official Rules may result in the immediate elimination of the entrant from the Contest. Sponsor further reserves the right to disqualify any entry that it believes in its sole and unfettered discretion infringes upon or violates the rights of any third party or otherwise does not comply with the Official Rules. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
  4. Prizes: (1) First Place Prize – $5,000 U.S. Dollars; (2) Second Place Prize – $2,000 U.S. Dollars; (3) Third Place Prize – $1,000 U.S. Dollars. ALL TAXES AND ANY APPLICABLE WITHOLDING AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER. As supplies permit, each entrant whose entry is published will receive a Google Desktop developer T-shirt and/or other Google-related prizes. Cash prizes will be awarded in U.S. Dollars. Prizes will be wire transferred to the winner's bank account. All costs associated with currency exchange and wire transfer are the sole responsibility of the winner. Any unclaimed prizes will not be awarded.
  5. Judging and Selection of Winners: All entries will be judged by a panel of experts based on the following judging criteria: 1) popularity of gadget; 2) visual appeal; 3) use of new features, e.g., UI Script API (transparency, animation, etc.), sharing/collaboration through the Google Talk API (interactive games, shared lists, etc.), personalization engine (contextual information, etc.); and 4) creativity. In the event that no winning entries are received, no prize will be awarded. Decisions of judges are final and binding. The winners will be announced on or about August 21, 2006 and will be notified via e-mail.
  6. General Conditions: This Contest is governed by the laws of the State of California, United States. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. By submitting an entry into this Contest, an entrant agrees to be bound by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this Contest. Return of any prize/prize notification may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner. Any potential winner who cannot be contacted within fifteen (15) days of attempted first notification will forfeit his or her prize. Potential prize winners may be required to sign, notarize and return an Affidavit or Declaration of Eligibility, a Liability/Publicity Release, an I.R.S. Form W-9, and provide any additional information that may be required by the Sponsor within thirty (30) days following the date of first attempted notification. Failure to comply within this time period may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner. The intellectual and industrial property rights to the Contest submission, if any, will remain with the entrants, except that these terms do not supersede any other assignment or grant of rights according to any other separate agreements between entrants and other parties. As a condition of entry, entrants agree that Sponsor shall have the right to use, copy, modify and make available the submission to the public via Sponsor's websites for any purpose, including but not limited to advertising and promotion of the Contest using screenshots, animations and video clips. Acceptance of a prize constitutes permission for, and winners consent to, Sponsor and its agencies to use a winner's name and/or likeness and entry for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation, unless prohibited by law. Sponsor is not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing of the offer, administration of the Contest or in the announcement of the prize. In the event a winner/potential winner's employer has a policy which prohibits the awarding of a prize to an employee, the prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner will be selected. Entrants certify that their entry is original and that they are the sole and exclusive owner and rights holder of the submitted entry and that they have the right to submit the entry in the Contest. Each entrant agrees not to submit any entry that (1) infringes any third-party proprietary, intellectual property, industrial property, personal rights or other rights, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or confidentiality obligation; or (2) otherwise violates applicable law in any countries in the world.
  7. No Recourse to Judicial or Other Procedures: To the extent permitted by law, the rights to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this Contest are hereby excluded, and any entrant expressly waives any and all such rights. Entrants agree that these Official Rules are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States.
  8. Privacy: By entering the Contest, the entrant agrees to Sponsor's use of personal information as described in Google's Privacy Policy. Entrants further agree that personal data, especially name and address, may be processed, stored and otherwise used for the purposes and within the context of the Contest and any other purposes outlined in these Official Rules. The data may also be used by the Sponsor in order to check entrant's identity, postal address and telephone number, or to otherwise verify eligibility to participate in the Contest. Entrants have a right to access, review, rectify or cancel any personal data held by the Sponsor by writing to Sponsor (Attention: Privacy Matters) at the address listed below. If the required data is not provided, entrant will be ineligible to participate in the Contest.
  9. Limitations of Liability: To the maximum extent permitted by law, each entrant indemnifies and agrees to keep indemnified the Sponsor at all times from and against any liability, claims, demands, losses, damages, costs and expenses resulting from any act, default or omission of the entrant and/or a breach of any warranty set forth herein. To the maximum extent permitted by law, each entrant indemnifies and agrees to keep indemnified the Sponsor at all times from and against any liability, actions, claims, demands, losses, damages, costs and expenses for or in respect of which the Sponsor will or may become liable by reason of or related or incidental to any act, default or omission by an entrant under these Official Rules including without limitation resulting from or in relation to any breach, non-observance, act or omission whether negligent or otherwise, pursuant to these Official Rules by an entrant. To the maximum extent permitted by law, entrants agree to hold Sponsor, its respective directors, officers, employees and assigns harmless for any injury or damage caused or claimed to be caused by participation in the Contest and/or use or acceptance of any prize won.
  10. Internet: Sponsor is not responsible for electronic transmission errors resulting in omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission. Sponsor is not responsible for theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, network, telephone equipment, electronic, computer, hardware or software malfunctions or limitations of any kind. Sponsor is not responsible for inaccurate transmissions of or failure to receive entry information by Sponsor on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website or any combination thereof. If for any reason the Internet portion of the Contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest.
  11. Severability: If any provision(s) of these Official Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect.
  12. Winners List: The names of the prize winners will be available at on the Google Desktop Blog on or about September 5, 2006 for a period up to 30 days.
  13. Sponsor: The Sponsor of the Contest is Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94303.

Updated July 19, 2006