Rules, Terms, and Conditions

The following ”Spot the bus“ contest is open to persons who are legal residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia and are at least 18 years of age or older as of their date of entry, except employees of the Federal Republic of Germany affiliated with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington, or of Marketing für Deutschland GmbH, or of the BMW Group, their affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and their immediate families.
Please note: Employees of the Federal Republic of Germany affiliated with the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington, Marketing für Deutschland GmbH, and the BMW Group, their affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, as well as their immediate families, are welcome to make a submission but are not eligible for the drawing. All applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply. Void wherever prohibited by federal, state, or local laws.

1. Sponsor/Administrator: The Sponsor of the ”Spot the bus“ contest is Marketing für Deutschland GmbH, Unter den Linden 74, 10117 Berlin, Germany. The Administrator of this contest is the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington, 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007-1998.

2. How To Enter: The “Spot the Bus” contest runs from 12:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (“EST”), October 3, 2007 through 11:59 p.m. EST, December 31, 2007 (the “Sweepstake Period”). All entries must be received by by 11:59 p.m. EST on December 31, 2007. Participant must visit www.Germany.info and complete the online entry form. Entry must be complete to be eligible. In order to complete the entry, the entrant must submit a) all required information, b) a photo of the „Germany - Land of Ideas“ bus currently used by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority via online entry form, and c) a written essay (maximum of 600 characters) on the topic ”My reasons to love Germany are“ in English. Only essays on the aforementioned topic are eligible for entry. One entry per person/e-mail address/mailing address only. Online entries will be deemed made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. The authorized account holder is the natural person who is assigned to the e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses or the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Entries submitted in any other ways then by using the form and/or in other languages than English, are not eligible.
Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual that tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the contest or website; violates the official rules; or acts in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.
By entering, participant accepts and agrees to be bound by these official rules and the decisions of the judges.

3. Prizes A) Grand Prize: One (1 seven-day/six-night trip for two (2) to Germany. Trip includes roundtrip economy air transportation from Washington, DC, to Munich, Germany, round-trip ground transportation to Dresden and Berlin, meals, and six nights hotel accommodations (based on double occupancy). Dates of departure and return will be arranged after prior consultation with the winner. Dates and details of the prize are subject to change. Prize will be awarded, and potential winner will be notified by phone and/or E-mail after the „Spot the bus“ contest has ended.
B) Additional Prizes: Three (3) Apple 1 GB iPod Shuffles. One additional prize will be awarded per each month of the contest (October, November, December), and potential winners will be notified by phone and/or E-mail.

4. A) Grand Prize Winner selection: Each entrant must comply with all terms and conditions set forth in these Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements.
A jury of members of staff of the Press, Information and Public Diplomacy Section of the Embassy will select the best 30% of all eligible essay entries received. Winner will be selected in a random drawing from the best 30% in January 2008 by the same jury whose decisions are final and binding in all matters related to the Drawing. Drawing for the Grand Prize will be conducted no later than January 31, 2008. The Grand Prize is nontransferable/no substitution allowed except by Administrator and Sponsor who reserve right to award a prize of equal or greater value if advertised prize is unavailable. Administrator and Sponsor and its agencies assume no responsibility/liability for damages, losses or injury resulting from acceptance or use of the prize. Winner will be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability Release and Publicity Release within 28 days of notification attempt, or prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. Return of prize notification as undeliverable may result in disqualification and alternate selection. Acceptance of prize constitutes that permission is given to the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington, Marketing für Deutschland GmbH, and the BMW Group to use winner’s name and likeness for promotional purposes without further compensation. Airline carrier's regulations apply. Trip may not be combined with any other offer and travel may not qualify for frequent flyer miles. Winner and guest must travel together on same itinerary. All other expenses not mentioned herein, including but not limited to, transportation not specified herein, food, beverages, additional hotel amenities or fees and gratuities, are the responsibility of winner and traveling companion. Winner’s travel companion will be required to sign and return a Liability/Publicity Release prior to travel. Travel companion must be at least 14 years of age at the time of travel, must possess valid travel documents (i.e., valid passport) in order to travel, and, if a minor, must travel with a parent or legal guardian. If a potential winner or traveling companion is a minor in his or her state of residence the Release must be signed by the winner’s or traveling companion’s parent or legal guardian. Winner will be responsible to make his/her own visa arrangements, if applicable. Winner must also possess a valid driver’s license. Departure and airport taxes, customs/agriculture fees and federal, state, local and other taxes, if any, on prize are not included and are the winner's and travel companion's responsibility. The winner will receive an IRS Form 1099 for the value of the prize. Once all documentation is returned to Sponsor and the winner is verified, the Grand Prize will be awarded.

B) Additional Prizes Winner selection: The first monthly winner will be selected via random drawing at the beginning of November 2007 from among all eligible entries received in the month of October 2007. The second monthly winner will be selected via random drawing at the beginning of December 2007 from among all eligible entries received in the month of November 2007. The third monthly winner will be selected via random drawing at the beginning of January 2008 from among all eligible entries received in the month of December 2007. Drawings will be conducted by a jury comprised of staff of the Press, Information and Public Diplomacy Section of the Embassy whose decisions are final and binding in all matters related to the Drawing.Winners of additional prizes may still be considered for selection of best essay entries for Grand Prize drawing.

C) Notifcation: Winner will be notified by e-mail, mail or phone. Phone number will only be used to contact the winner(s) and will not be shared with any third party. In the event that e-mails are returned as undeliverable, Sponsor will attempt to re-send said e-mail up to five (5) times over five (5) days. If any winner does not respond to a phone call notification and/or to said email within five (5) days of its transmission or should the e-mail after five (5) attempts be returned as undeliverable, his or her rights to any prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner will be selected. Potential prize winners will be required to sign an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release (“Release”) within ten (10) days after the notification date, which will require verification of social security number for tax purposes and an IRS Form. Failure to do so will result in forfeit of all rights to the prize and the selection of an alternate winner.

5. General Rules: All entries become the property of Sponsors and Administrator and will not be acknowledged or returned. Every participant represents and warrants to the Sponsor and Administrator that he/she has the absolute right, power and authority to transfer the ownership of the materials submitted to Sponsor and Administrator and that neither the materials nor their use shall infringe upon or violate the right of privacy or right of publicity of, or constitute a libel or slander against, or violate any common law or any other right of, any person or entity.
Sponsor and Administrator have the right to edit and/or alter any submission and reserves the right to not use the material submitted at all and/or as little of the material in the Sponsor’s and Administrator’s sole discretion.

Administrator, Sponsor and its agencies are not responsible for technical, hardware or software malfunctions, telephone failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incorrect, inaccurate, incomplete, garbled or delayed electronic communications whether caused by the sender or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this contest which may limit the ability to participate or by any human error which may occur in the processing of the entries in this contest. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right to cancel the promotion if it becomes technically corrupted, and award prize from eligible entries received prior to cancellation. By entering, entrants agree that all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these official rules, participant’s rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of the Administrator and Sponsor in connection with the contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the United States of America, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules. Administrator does not submit to the jurisdiction of a United States court, and does not waive its sovereign immunity by entering into this Agreement or submitting to a dispute resolution mechanism.
CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY A CONTESTANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE GAME IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND, SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH CONTESTANT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

6. Privacy Notice: If you submit material, you will be asked for your full name, address, e-mail account, telephone number, and status vis-à-vis the Federal Foreign Office, Marketing für Deutschland GmbH, BMW Group, and their affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies. By submitting your contribution you agree to correctly and completely state the data inquired. We reserve the right to remove any participant from the competition not complying with these terms without prior notice.
If your material is selected for publication it will be published along with your name and the city you live in. The additional contact information you provide are to enable the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington to contact you in case of technical problems with your submission, or if you are selected a winner. Information on your status vis-à-vis the Federal Foreign Office, Marketing für Deutschland GmbH, BMW Group, and their affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies is needed in order to decide whether you are eligible for the drawing (see below). We value your privacy and will use your data only for the purposes described above. In particular, we will not pass on the data to third parties. Please do not reveal any personal information about yourself, or anyone else, in the story itself (for example, telephone number, home address or email address).

7. Winners: The names of the winners will be published on www.germany.info.