These NEARCON Hackathon terms and conditions (the “Official Rules”) which incorporate other terms and conditions imposed by NEAR Foundation (the “Sponsor”) and Devpost describe the terms and conditions on which the Sponsor and Devpost offers you (“you” or “Entrant”) the opportunity to participate in the NEARCON 2023 Hackathon (the “Hackathon”).  

The Terms govern your participation in the Hackathon, grants certain rights to us and constitutes a legally binding agreement between you, the Sponsor and Devpost. By participating in the Hackathon, you agree (i) to be unconditionally bound by the Official Rules and (ii) that all decisions related to the Hackathon that are made pursuant to these Official Rules are final and binding, and that all such decisions are at the sole discretion of the Sponsor and Devpost. If you don’t agree to be bound by the Official Rules, you may not participate in the Hackathon. 

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. 

SUBMISSION OF ANY ENTRY CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES AS A CONTRACT BETWEEN ENTRANT (AND EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF ENTRANT), THE HACKATHON SPONSOR, AND DEVPOST.

1. Dates and Timing

Registration Period: from June 15th, 2023 to November 10th, 2023 (“Registration Period”).

Registration and Submission Period: November 7th, 2023 to November 9th, 2023  (“Submission Period”).

Judging Period: November 10th, 2023 to November 17th, 2023 (“Judging Period”).

Winners Announced: On or around November 17th, 2023 (5:00pm WEST).

2. Sponsor and Administrator

Sponsor: NEAR Stiftung (NEAR Foundation), Chamerstrasse 12 C, 6300 Zug, Switzerland

Administrator: DevPost

3. Eligibility

A. The Hackathon IS open to: 

• Individuals who are PHYSICALLY PRESENT a.k.a. In Real Life (IRL), in Lisbon, Portugal and attending NEARCON at Armazem, R. Pereira Henriques nº1, 1950-242, Lisbon, during the Submission Period;

• Individuals who are at least the age of majority where they reside as of the time of entry (“Eligible Individuals”);

• Teams of Eligible Individuals (“Teams”); and

• Organizations (including corporations, not-for-profit corporations and other nonprofit organizations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other legal entities) that exist and have been organized or incorporated at the time of entry.

(the above are collectively, “Entrants”)

An Eligible Individual may join more than one Team or Organization and an Eligible Individual who is part of a Team or Organization may also enter the Hackathon on an individual basis. If a Team or Organization is entering the Hackathon, they must appoint and authorize one individual (the “Representative”) to represent, act, and enter a Submission, on their behalf. By entering a Submission on behalf of a Team or Organization you represent and warrant that you are the Representative authorized to act on behalf of your Team or Organization.

B. The Hackathon IS NOT open to: 

• Online only submissions or any form of virtual participation. See the first point of section 3. A.;

• Individuals who are residents of, or Organizations domiciled in, a country, state, province or territory where Swiss law or local law prohibits participating or receiving a prize in the Hackathon (Including but not limited to: Afghanistan, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Crimea, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Laos, Nicaragua, North Korea, Palestine, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe or an entity or person restricted by United States and Swiss law export controls and sanctions, or any country forbidden by the Sponsor’s Terms of Service, and/or the Devpost's Terms of Service.)

• Organizations involved with the design, production, paid promotion, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, including the Sponsor and Administrator (“Promotion Entities”).

• Employees, representatives and agents** of such Promotion Entities, and all members of their immediate family or household*

• Any other individual involved with the design, production, promotion, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, and each member of their immediate family or household*

• Any Judge (defined below), or company or individual that employs a Judge

• Any parent company, subsidiary, or other affiliate*** of any organization described above

• Any other individual or organization whose participation in the Hackathon would create, in the sole discretion of the Sponsor and/or Administrator, a real or apparent conflict of interest 

*The members of an individual’s immediate family include the individual’s spouse, children and stepchildren, parents and stepparents, and siblings and stepsiblings. The members of an individual’s household include any other person that shares the same residence as the individual for at least three (3) months out of the year. 

**Agents include individuals or organizations that in creating a Submission to the Hackathon, are acting on behalf of, and at the direction of, a Promotion Entity through a contractual or similar relationship.

***An affiliate is: (a) an organization that is under common control, sharing a common majority or controlling owner, or common management; or (b) an organization that has a substantial ownership in, or is substantially owned by the other organization.

4. How To Enter 

5. Submission Modifications.

A. Draft Submissions: Prior to the end of the Submission Period, you may save draft versions of your submission on Devpost to your portfolio before submitting the submission materials to the Hackathon for evaluation. Once the Submission Period has ended, you may not make any changes or alterations to your submission, but you may continue to update the project in your Devpost portfolio.

B. Modifications After the Submission Period. The Sponsor and Devpost may permit you to modify part of your submission after the Submission Period for the purpose of adding, removing or replacing material that potentially infringes a third party mark or right, discloses personally identifiable information, or is otherwise inappropriate. The modified submission must remain substantively the same as the original submission with the only modification being what the Sponsor and Devpost permits. 

6. Judges & Criteria.

Eligible submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges selected by the Sponsor (the “Judges”). Judges may be employees of the sponsor or third parties, may or may not be listed individually on the Hackathon Website, and may change before or during the Judging Period. Judging may take place in one or more rounds with one or more panels of Judges, at the discretion of the sponsor. 

Stage One) The first stage will determine via pass/fail whether the ideas meet a baseline level of viability, in that the project reasonably fits the theme and reasonably applies the required APIs/SDKs featured in the Hackathon.

Stage Two) All submissions that pass Stage One will be evaluated in Stage Two based on the following equally weighted criteria (the “Judging Criteria”):

Entries will be judged on the following equally weighted criteria, and according to the sole and absolute discretion of the judges:

• Technological Implementation (Does the interaction with NEAR demonstrate quality software development?)

• Design (Is the user experience and design of the project well thought out?)

• Potential Impact (Is the Project Open Source and how big of an impact could the project have on the NEAR ecosystem?)

• Quality of the Idea (How creative and unique is the project?)

• Project Sustainability (Is the plan for the Project thought out and realistic?)

The scores from the Judges will determine the potential winners of the applicable prizes. The Entrant(s) that are eligible for a Prize, and whose Submissions earn the highest overall scores based on the applicable Judging Criteria, will become potential winners of that Prize.

Tie Breaking. For each Prize listed below, if two or more submissions are tied, the tied submission with the highest score in the first applicable criterion listed above will be considered the higher scoring submission. In the event any ties remain, this process will be repeated, as needed, by comparing the tied Submissions’ scores on the next applicable criterion. If two or more submissions are tied on all applicable criteria, the panel of Judges will vote on the tied submissions.

7. Intellectual Property Rights.

All submissions remain the intellectual property of the individuals or organizations that developed them. By submitting an entry, entrants agree that the sponsor will have a fully paid, non-exclusive license to use such entry for judging the entry. Entrants agree that the sponsor and Devpost shall have the right to promote the submission and use the name, likeness, voice and image of all individuals contributing to a submission, in any materials promoting or publicizing the Hackathon and its results, during the Hackathon Period and for three years thereafter.  Some Submission components may be displayed to the public. Other Submission materials may be viewed by the sponsor, Devpost, and judges for screening and evaluation. By submitting an entry or accepting any prize, entrants represent and warrant that (a) submitted content is not copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless entrant is the owner of such rights or has permission from their rightful owner to post the content; and (b) the content submitted does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware or other disabling devices or harmful or malicious code.

8. Prizes

IMPORTANT NOTES ON MULTIPLE PRIZE ELIGIBILITY:

• A project can win up to one (1) Track prize and up to one (1) Honorable Mentions prize per Sponsor.

• If there are no eligible submissions for a Track or Sponsor prize, that prize will not be awarded.

NOTE: Conversion price from USD to USDT will be calculated equivalently. Cryptocurrency is subject to a high degree of risk, volatility and illiquidity. Participants should make their own investigations and evaluations of any cryptocurrency that will be delivered pursuant thereto. Participants should inform themselves as to the legal requirements applicable to them in respect of the acquisition, holding and disposition of cryptocurrency and upon delivery, and as to the income and other tax consequences to them of such acquisition, holding and disposition.

A. Substitutions & Changes: Prizes are non-transferable by the winner. Sponsor in its sole discretion has the right to make a prize substitution of equivalent or greater value. Sponsor will not award a prize if there are no eligible submissions entered in the Hackathon, or if there are no eligible Entrants or submissions for a specific prize.

B. Verification Requirement: THE AWARD OF A PRIZE TO A POTENTIAL WINNER IS SUBJECT TO KNOW-YOUR-CUSTOMER VERIFICATION OF THE IDENTITY, RESIDENCE, QUALIFICATIONS AND ROLE OF THE POTENTIAL WINNER IN THE CREATION OF THE SUBMISSION. No submission or submitter shall be deemed a winning submission or winner until their post-competition prize affidavits have been completed and verified, even if prospective winners have been announced verbally or on the competition website. The final decision to designate a winner shall be made by the Sponsor and/or Administrator.

C. Prize Delivery: Prizes will be payable to the Entrant, if an individual; to the Entrant’s Representative, if a Team; or to the Organization, if the Entrant is an Organization. It will be the responsibility of the winning Entrant’s Representative to allocate the Prize among their Team or Organization’s participating members, as the Representative deems appropriate. A monetary Prize will be mailed to the winning Entrant’s address (if an individual) or the Representative’s address (if a Team or Organization), or sent electronically to the Entrant, Entrant’s Representative, or Organization’s bank account, only after receipt of the completed winner affidavit and other required forms (collectively the “Required Forms”), if applicable. Failure to provide correct information on the Required Forms, or other correct information required for the delivery of a Prize, may result in delayed Prize delivery, disqualification of the Entrant, or forfeiture of a Prize. Prizes will be delivered within 60 days of the Sponsor or Devpost’s receipt of the completed Required Forms.

D. Fees & Taxes: Winners (and in the case of Team or Organization, all participating members) are responsible for any fees associated with receiving or using a prize, including but not limited to, wiring fees or currency exchange fees. Winners (and in the case of Team or Organization, all participating members) are responsible for reporting and paying all applicable taxes in their jurisdiction of residence (federal, state/provincial/territorial and local). Winners may be required to provide certain information to facilitate receipt of the award, including completing and submitting any tax or other forms necessary for compliance with applicable withholding and reporting requirements. United States residents may be required to provide a completed form W-9 and residents of other countries may be required to provide a completed W-8BEN form. Winners are also responsible for complying with foreign exchange and banking regulations in their respective jurisdictions and reporting the receipt of the Prize to relevant government departments/agencies, if necessary. The Sponsor, Devpost, and/or Prize provider reserves the right to withhold a portion of the prize amount to comply with the tax laws of the United States or other sponsor jurisdiction, or those of a winner’s jurisdiction.

9. Entry Conditions and Release.

A. By entering the Hackathon, you (and, if you are entering on behalf of a Team, Organization each participating members) agree(s) to the following:

(i) The relationship between you, the Entrant, and the Sponsor and Administrator, is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship.

(ii) You will be bound by and comply with these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, Administrator, and/or the Hackathon Judges which are binding and final in all matters relating to the Hackathon.

(iii) You release, indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Promotion Entities, and their respective parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies, the Prize suppliers and any other organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Hackathon, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (hereafter the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to a Entrant’s entry, creation of Submission or entry of a Submission, participation in the Hackathon, acceptance or use or misuse of the Prize (including any travel or activity related thereto) and/or the broadcast, transmission, performance, exploitation or use of the Submission as authorized or licensed by these Official Rules. 

B. Without limiting the foregoing, the Released Parties shall have no liability in connection with: 

(i) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by the Sponsor or Administrator’s electronic or printing error, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Hackathon; 

(ii) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines, internet connectivity or electronic transmission errors, or network hardware or software or failure of the Hackathon Website;

(iii) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Hackathon; 

(iv) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Hackathon or the processing of Submissions; or 

(v) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from the Entrant’s participation in the Hackathon or receipt or use or misuse of any Prize.

The Released Parties are not responsible for incomplete, late, misdirected, damaged, lost, illegible, or incomprehensible Submissions or for address or email address changes of the Entrants. Proof of sending or submitting the aforementioned will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by the Sponsor or Administrator. If for any reason any Entrant’s Submission is determined to have not been received or been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, the Entrant’s sole remedy is to request the opportunity to resubmit its Submission. Such a request must be made promptly after the Entrant knows or should have known there was a problem and will be determined at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.

10. Publicity.

By participating in the Hackathon, Entrant consents to the promotion and display of the Entrant’s Submission, and to the use of personal information about themselves for promotional purposes, by the Sponsor, Administrator, and third parties acting on their behalf. Such personal information includes, but is not limited to, your name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, comments and hometown and country of residence. It may be used in any existing or newly created media, worldwide without further payment or consideration or right of review, unless prohibited by law. Authorized use includes but is not limited to advertising and promotional purposes. 

The Entrant shall at all times in respect of the Hackathon act in good faith and in accordance with: 

1. any Official Rules; 

2. the Code of Conduct;

3. all applicable laws, statutes and regulations; and

4. any instructions or requests issued by the Sponsor and Administrator;

5. not do, say, provide, share, publish, deliver and/or present anything (including any Submission materials) that:

1. 1. is prejudicial to the image or reputation of the Foundation, NEAR, or the NEAR ecosystem, or that the Foundation would in good faith consider to be offensive or otherwise inappropriate; or

   2. relates to the price or value of the NEAR Token, or otherwise advocates for or refers to the NEAR Token as an investment; and

   3. ensure that you share, publish, deliver and/or present any Submission materials for educational purposes only and that nothing in any Submission materials shall be construed or relied upon as investment or financial advice.

These content standards apply to any and all Submission materials in connection with the Hackathon. Submission materials must not:

1. contain any material that is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory, or otherwise objectionable;

2. promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, violence, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age;

3. infringe any Intellectual Property Rights or any other rights of any other person;

4. violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others or contain any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable laws or regulations or that otherwise may be in conflict with these Official Rules and the Sponsor’s and Administrator’s Privacy Policy;

5. be likely to deceive any person;

6. promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote, or assist any unlawful act;

7. cause annoyance, inconvenience, or needless anxiety to, or be likely to upset, embarrass, alarm, or annoy, any other person;

8. impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or organization;

9. involve commercial activities or sales, such as contests, sweepstakes and other sales promotions, barter, or advertising; or

10. give the impression that they emanate from or are endorsed by the Sponsor and Administrator or any of its affiliates, or any other person or entity, if this is not the case.

13. General Conditions.

A. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Hackathon, or any part of it, in the event of a technical failure, fraud, or any other factor or event that was not anticipated or is not within their control.

B. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any individual or Entrant if it finds to be actually or presenting the appearance of tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Hackathon or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in a manner that is inappropriate, unsportsmanlike, not in the best interests of this Hackathon, or a violation of any applicable law or regulation.

C. Any attempt by any person to undermine the proper conduct of the Hackathon may be a violation of criminal and civil law. Should the Sponsor or Administrator suspect that such an attempt has been made or is threatened, they reserve the right to take appropriate action including but not limited to requiring an Entrant to cooperate with an investigation and referral to criminal and civil law enforcement authorities.

D. If there is any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of the Official Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Hackathon materials, including but not limited to the Hackathon Submission form, Hackathon Website, or advertising, the terms and conditions of the Official Rules shall prevail.

E. The terms and conditions of the Official Rules are subject to change at any time, including the rights or obligations of the Entrant, the Sponsor and Administrator. The Sponsor and Administrator will post the terms and conditions of the amended Official Rules on the Hackathon Website. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any amendment will become effective at the time specified in the posting of the amended Official Rules or, if no time is specified, the time of posting.

F. If at any time prior to the deadline, an Entrant or prospective Entrant believes that any term in the Official Rules is or may be ambiguous, they must submit a written request for clarification. 

G. The Sponsor or Administrator’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Should any provision of these Official Rules be or become illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction whose laws or regulations may apply to an Entrant, such illegality or unenforceability shall leave the remainder of these Official Rules, including the Rule affected, to the fullest extent permitted by law, unaffected and valid. The illegal or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid and enforceable provision that comes closest and best reflects the sponsor’s intention in a legal and enforceable manner with respect to the invalid or unenforceable provision.

H. Excluding Submissions, all intellectual property related to this Hackathon, including but not limited to copyrighted material, trademarks, trade-names, logos, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source codes, drawings, illustrations, slogans and representations are owned or used under license by the Sponsor and/or Administrator. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owners is strictly prohibited. Any use in a Submission of Sponsor or Administrator’s intellectual property shall be solely to the extent provided for in these Official Rules.

14. Limitations of Liability.

By entering, all Entrants (including, in the case of a Team or Organization, all participating members) agree to release the Released Parties from any and all liability in connection with the Prizes or Entrant’s participation in the Hackathon. Provided, however, that any liability limitation regarding gross negligence or intentional acts, or events of death or body injury shall not be applicable in jurisdictions where such limitation is not legal.

15. Disputes.

A. Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Hackathon, Entrant agrees that:

1. any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Hackathon, or any Prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action lawsuit, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held at the AAA regional office nearest the contestant;

2. the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and

3. judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.

B. Under no circumstances will Entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and Entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than contestant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with entering this Hackathon), and Entrant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

C. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the Entrant and Sponsor in connection with this Hackathon, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of New York, USA without regard to New York choice of law rules.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

16. Additional Terms.

Please review the Devpost Terms of Service at https://info.devpost.com/terms for additional rules that apply to your participation in the Hackathon and more generally your use of the Hackathon Website. Such Terms of Service are incorporated by reference into these Official Rules, including that the term "Poster" in the Terms of Service shall mean the same as "Sponsor" in these Official rules." If there is a conflict between the Terms of Service and these Official Rules, these Official Rules shall control with respect to this Hackathon only.

17. Entrant’s Personal Information.

The personal information submitted by the you, the Entrant, in connection with your application to join the Hackathon and what you provide to us in connection with your participation in the Hackathon will be used for the purposes described in these Official Rules Terms and will otherwise be handled in accordance with Devpost’s Privacy Policy, and you acknowledge and agree to such use.

For questions, send an email to support@devpost.com.

18. Code of Conduct

We are dedicated to providing an accepting environment that provides space for making friends and earning knowledge regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion or lack thereof. Harassment of Hackathon and event attendees, speakers, sponsors and any others will not be tolerated. Entrants violating the Code of Conduct may be sanctioned or expelled from the Hackathon.

To maintain an accepting environment, the Sponsor and Devpost condemns the following behavior (but not limited to) as being wholly unacceptable at the Hackathon:

1. Offensive verbal comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age & religion

2. Sexual references/imagery in public spaces

3. Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following.

4. Harassing photography or recording.

5. Sustained disruption of talks or other events.

6. Inappropriate physical contact.

7. Invasion of personal space.

8. Unwelcome sexual attention.

9. Advocating for or encouraging, any of the above behavior.
   
   

If you are subject to unacceptable behavior, notice that someone else is being subject to unacceptable behavior, notice any other breach of the Code of Conduct, or have any other concerns, please follow these steps:

1. Let the person know that what they did is unacceptable and ask them to stop.

2. That person should immediately stop the behavior.

3. If that person doesn’t comply, please contact Hackathon staff as soon as possible. Event staff can be identified through branded shirts/badges or alternatively can be contacted at: maria.yarotska@near.foundation.

4. Hackathon staff will ensure your safety and maintain desired privacy.

5. Hackathon staff members will take immediate actions against persons violating the Code of Conduct.