Official Rules--PC World's Hot Pic of the Week Contest

General Conditions: PC World's Hot Pic of the Week Contest (the "Contest") is sponsored by PC World Communications, Inc. (the "Sponsor"). The laws of the United States govern the Contest. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply. The Contest is void where prohibited by law. Those who enter the Contest (the "Entrants") 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.

No Purchase Necessary: No purchase is necessary to enter or win the Contest. A purchase will not improve an individual's chances of winning.

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 author of the Digital Focus newsletter, Dave Johnson, employees of the Sponsor, PC World Communications, the prize manufacturers, and each of their affiliates, agents, subsidiaries, divisions, and advertising and 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 through to the close of the Contest. (The Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to suspend, modify, or terminate the Contest at any time.) 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 JPG format at a resolution no larger than 640x480 pixels to Dave Johnson at hotpic@pcworld.com. Photo entries that do not meet the size and formatting specifications will not be eligible. Only one photo per week per Entrant will be accepted.
• All photos must be original and must not have been published elsewhere at any time. You may not submit an entry on behalf of someone else. Any Entrant who e-mails a photo for submission in the Contest must also be the photographer of the photo. This will help guarantee that only images that have not been previously published will be entered in the Contest. 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. All entries become the property of the Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned.
• All eligible entries must be received no later than 5 p.m. Friday (ET) each week. Entries received after this time will not be disqualified but will be entered in the following week's contest.
• Entrants must include their e-mail addresses for the purpose of winnings notification. The Sponsor is not responsible for telephone or modem failure, or for incomplete, garbled, or delayed transmission.

How to Win (First Level): One weekly winner will be selected each week by the author of PC World's Digital Focus newsletter (the "Judges") from all qualified 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. on the first Wednesday following the week.

How to Win (Second Level): One monthly 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. on the first Wednesday following the month.

Weekly Prize: Each weekly winner's photo, name and photo description will be published in PC World's Digital Focus newsletter.

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 $10 or exceed $100. 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. 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. 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.

Release: By entering the Contest, each Entrant releases and holds harmless the Sponsor and its agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, and advertising or promotion agencies from: (i) any and all liability for any personal injury, death, property damage, or other loss or claim arising from or in connection with the Contest or prize; (ii) any incorrect or inaccurate information caused by any technical or human error that may occur in the operation of the Contest; (iii) any problems or technical malfunctions (errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, delays in operation or transmission) of any computer, online system, server or provider; (iv) any failure of e-mail on account of Internet traffic congestion (proof of transmission does not constitute proof of delivery); (v) any stolen, misdirected, incomplete, lost, late, ineligible or damaged entries; (vi) printing or typographical errors in any Giveaway related materials; and/or (vii) late, lost, or misdirected mail. The Sponsor does not make and is not responsible for any warranties (including implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose) with regards 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 www.pcworld.com 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. 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. In the event of a dispute, entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the Authorized Account Holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of 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. The winner 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.

Termination: If, at any time, the Sponsor is unable to operate the Contest as planned (due to financial or administrative difficulties, 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 reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest. Should the Contest ever terminate, notice will be given in PC World's Digital Focus newsletter.

Use of Winners' Information: 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, both electronically (for example, on the Internet) and in print, in connection with the Contest at any time, except where prohibited by law, unless the Entrant has sent in writing a specific request instructing the Sponsor not to publish their name and/or state of residence. By accepting the prize, the winner acknowledges and agrees to the use by the Sponsor, without additional compensation, of his or her name, likeness, photo, and photo description for purposes of advertising, trade and promotion, except where prohibited by law.

Intellectual Property: The Contest and all related 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.