Greetings TWiT Army. I apologize for the delay in getting the final portion of this contest going, but this is the first time we have done anything like this as a buisness, and we wanted to do it right, lawyers and all.

With no further delay, here are the rules for our contest to win the TWiT Ultimate Gaming Machine.

This contest will conclude at the end of september, so get ready to vote!

- Colleen

No purchase necessary to enter or win.  Void where prohibited. 

1. Entry 

Send an email to ugm@twit.tv that describes the top 10 reasons why you should win the Ultimate Gaming Machine ("UGM").  The reasons may be in written text form, video, audio, or any other form of media. Be creative. TWiT staff will only be able to evaluate entries in English. The UGM is the gaming computer designed assembled by Leo Laporte and Colleen on TWiT Live in the second half of 2008.   You’re your entry is submitted to TWiT, you are entered in the contest to win the UGM.  This is the one and only prize of this contest.  Entries must be complete for you to be eligible to participate and win.  Entries become the property of TWiT and will not be returned.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years of age at the time of entry to participate. Employees of TWiT LLC and members of their immediate families are not eligible. Void where prohibited by law or regulation.

3. Judging Phase

TWiT's judges will select the top 10 entries from all the entries submitted up until 11:59pm September 3rd 2009.   Submissions will be judged based on overall creativity, uniqueness, perceived effort, and concision. 

4. Voting Phase

The 10 entries selected from the Judging Phase will be posted on the inside.twit.tv blog at  4pm pst on September 18th 2009.   Members of the TWiT Army will select their choice for the winner.  Here's how to vote: 

a. Read the numbered entries on http://inside.twit.tv. Each entry has its own number, such as 1,2,3, etc., going up to 10.

b. Login to your TWiT Army account at http://army.twit.tv.  If you don't have an account, create one, they are free of charge.   If you do not want to create an account, see below for an alternative method for voting.

c. Using the @ syntax, tell the @ "ugm" vote bot which entry you wish to vote for, and it will record your vote. If you were voting for entry 3, for instance, you would enter the following: @ugm vote 3

d. Vote only once and vote from only one user account.

e. The entry that gains the highest number of votes will be the winner of the UGM.   The voting period ends at 11:59 pm on September 25 2009.

5. Alternative Method of Voting

If you want to vote but do not want to register for the TWiT Army, send a postcard to "TWiT UGM P.O. Box 1018 Petaluma, CA, 94953" with your vote.  To be included in the vote, postcards must be received by TWiT on or before 11:59 pm pst September 25th 2009.

6. Ties

In the event more than one entry ties for the top number of votes, the voting method set forth above will be repeated with entries that are tied with the top votes.  If necessary to break the tie, the voting period will begin at 11:59 pm pst on September 29th 2009 and end at 11:59 pm pst on September 30th 2009.  The announcement of the winner will be delayed until 4:00 pm pst September 5th 2009.

7. Original Work

Each entrant represents and warrants that his or her entry is fully and completely his or her original work and it does not violate the rights of any other person.

8. Disisqualification

Entries can be disqualified if the submission subjects the entrant or TWiT LLC to actual or potential legal claims or liability or, in any manner, compromises TWiT's good will, reputation or intellectual property including, but not limited to, the unauthorized use of the likeness, words, or other intellectual property of a third party.  TWiT reserves the right to disqualify any entrant  who directly or indirectly tampers with the entry process or voting process, the operation of the TWiT.tv website, or otherwise violates the rules.  Activities that could lead to the disqualification of an entry include, but are not limited to, the following:  (a) Receiving multiple votes from the same accounts in the same round, (b) any vote purchasing schemes, (c) creation of multiple accounts merely for the goal of voting, (d) voting by any automatic means, or (e) any type of activity that appears to be (or is even suspected of being) unfair, inappropriate, or gaming the system.  Activities could possibly lead to the disqualification of a voter include, but are not limited to, the following:  (v) voting more than once for an entry per round, (w) any vote purchasing schemes, (x) creation of multiple accounts merely for the goal of voting, (y) voting by any automatic means, or (z) any type of activity that appears to be (or is even suspected of being) unfair, inappropriate, or gaming the system.  Although an entrant or voter may campaign for others to support a particular entry, such campaigning must be done in compliance with the law.  Failure to comply with the law can be the basis for disqualification.

9. The Winner

TWiT will notify the winner on or about October 1 2009 by sending an email to the address submitted with the entry.   [The winner must provide a shipping address for the UGM within 7 days of being notified of having won the UGM.  TWiT will pay for the cost of shipping the UGM to the winner].   All taxes, duties and other types of fees on the prize are the sole responsibility of the winner.  The prize is not transferable.  By accepting the prize, the winner grants TWiT the right to use his or her entry, name, likeness and biographical information in any and all media for advertising/promotional purposes.

10. Alternate Winner. 

If winner does not provide a shipping address within the 7 days after notification, or otherwise refuses or declines the prize, an alternate winner will be selected.  The alternate winner will be the entry that received the next highest number of votes.  In the event the alternate winner does not comply with requirements set forth herein, the process for selecting the alternate winner will be repeated.

11. Limitation of Liability

TWiT LLC is not responsible for entries or votes that are (a) late, stolen, misdirected, damaged, incomplete, garbled or incomplete or (b) not received or reviewable due to computer, Internet or electronic malfunction. TWiT reserves the right to cancel or modify the contest and award the prize through an alternate means if fraud or technical failure compromises the integrity of the contest, as determined by TWiT in its sole discretion. By submitting an entry, you agree that TWiT and its officers, directors, members, managers, employees and agents shall not be liable for injury, losses, damages, or costs of any kind resulting from participation in this contest or acceptance of or use or misuse of a prize or parts thereof.  By entering, participants agree to be bound by these rules.  In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of the person submitting an electronic entry, the entry will be deemed to be submitted by the person in whose name the e-mail account is registered.

12. No Warranty. 

Entrant understands and acknowledges that the UGM is a used computer.  THE UGM IS A USED COMPUTER AND IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.

13. This contest is presented by TWiT, LLC, P.O. Box 1018 Petaluma CA, 94953.