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10/3/2012 7:08:08 PM
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Man disqualified from contest - was it right?

[url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/theodore-scott-gold-peak-tea-contest_n_1932811.html?1349214608&icid=maing-grid7|maing5|dl1|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D214663]Article [/url] [quote]If Gold Peak Tea has a flavor to soothe a family of angry lawyers, the company might want to serve it up fast. Theodore Scott, a Decatur, Ga., attorney, is considering whether to sue the Coca-Cola tea brand for disqualifying him from its "Take The Year Off" video contest. Scott was informed he won the $100,000 grand prize and a 12-month break from the office. But days later, Gold Peak Tea announced a new winner, claiming Scott violated the rules by using a crowd-source forum to gather more votes for his video. "If I sue, it has to be soon," Scott told The Huffington Post on Tuesday. "I'd like to sue when it's still fresh in the minds of people." But it isn't just Scott who could take up the cause. He's a senior partner in the law firm Scott, Scott and Scott along with his wife and twin brother. And one of his four sons is an associate. "We are fighting this," Scott's wife, Ernestine, said. "We're looking at all the avenues."[/quote] From the Contest Rules: [quote] Multiple voters are not permitted to share the same email address or Facebook account. Use of script, macro or any other automated system to vote is prohibited and all such votes will be void. Finalists are prohibited from obtaining votes for any Submission and Video by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including, without limitation, offering prizes or other inducements to members of the public, vote farming, or any other activity that artificially inflates such Finalists' votes as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Entrants are prohibited from sabotaging the votes of any Submissions through any means deemed inappropriate by Sponsor, in its sole discretion. If an entrant or voter engages in any of the aforementioned acts, his/her votes will be void, and his/her Submissions (if any) will be disqualified.[/quote] I think Scott has a pretty solid case against Gold Peak here. There is no legal definition of "vote farming" that I could find. However, I think that Scott is right when he says that asking for votes online is the same as asking for votes from family and friends. The phrase "including, without limitation" [url=http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/04/02/including-without-limitation/]may or may not be important,[/url] depending on the court. The question here is, is asking people to vote for you online "artificially inflating" the number of votes received? I don't think it is. What's the difference between asking people to vote for you online and asking your friends?
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  • I honestly don't see how this guy has a case.

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  • This is exactly like the whole 'send t-swizzle to a deaf school' that was on /b/ a while ago...

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  • I could see them arguing the "vote farming" language quite heavily. Yes, it is similar to asking people in person, but doing it online will reach considerably more people, many of which do not know you or have any reason to support you. Whether its right or wrong, i'd say that the contest rules got this one covered, but the courts will tell.

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  • Yeah well if he broke the rules then why the hell is he suing.

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  • [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] coolmike699 [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Saphir Eagle [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] RighteousTyrant [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] coolmike699 vote farming, [u]or any other activity[/u] that artificially inflates such Finalists' votes [u]as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.[/u] [/quote]His suit won't stand a chance. [/quote] agreed, the organizer can do what ever they want because of that claimer [/quote] No they can't. "At our sole discretion" doesn't mean that they can just change their rules after the contest ends. [/quote]They aren't changing anything. What that means is that they and they alone have the authority to determine what is and is not considered a violation of the established rules. And you're right that that phrase doesn't mean they can change the rules afterwards. But I would bet that there is language in the contest rules/agreement saying that they can, in effect, change or cancel whatever they want, whenever they want, for any reason or no reason at all. Ah, yep, here it is: [quote]If for any reason the Campaign is not capable of running as planned by reason of infection by virus, bugs, worms, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, may corrupt or affect the administration, operation, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Campaign, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Campaign, and select the winners, from the entries received prior to the action taken or in other such manner as deemed fair and appropriate by Sponsor. [/quote] And that's followed by something else rather relevant to the issue: [quote]The Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Campaign or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or any other promotion, or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner.[/quote] [Edited on 10.03.2012 11:42 AM PDT]

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  • [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] coolmike699 [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Saphir Eagle [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] RighteousTyrant [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] coolmike699 vote farming, [u]or any other activity[/u] that artificially inflates such Finalists' votes [u]as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.[/u] [/quote]His suit won't stand a chance. [/quote] agreed, the organizer can do what ever they want because of that claimer [/quote] No they can't. "At our sole discretion" doesn't mean that they can just change their rules after the contest ends. [/quote]They're not changing their rules, they're saying they still maintain discretion, which is clearly stated in their rules. If all voters are expected to go through some neutral channel and watch the videos to see which they like the best, and then Scott comes along saying "HEY INTERNET LOOK AT MY VIDEO AND VOTE FOR IT!!!!!!", then that's really just a popularity contest and has nothing to do with relative quality of videos.

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  • [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Saphir Eagle [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] RighteousTyrant [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] coolmike699 vote farming, [u]or any other activity[/u] that artificially inflates such Finalists' votes [u]as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.[/u] [/quote]His suit won't stand a chance. [/quote] agreed, the organizer can do what ever they want because of that claimer [/quote] No they can't. "At our sole discretion" doesn't mean that they can just change their rules after the contest ends.

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  • [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] CultMiester4000 [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] petitminou I see "vote farming" as using a bot or something, not asking people to vote for you. idk.[/quote]this. advertising on the internet is like posting a big sign up in the middle of the street. you aren't artificially inflating anything, you're just making noise about it.[/quote] I mean, I'm sure the "second" winner posted that he was doing a contest on his Facebook wall.

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  • [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] petitminou I see "vote farming" as using a bot or something, not asking people to vote for you. idk.[/quote]this. advertising on the internet is like posting a big sign up in the middle of the street. you aren't artificially inflating anything, you're just making noise about it.

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  • [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] RighteousTyrant [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] coolmike699 vote farming, [u]or any other activity[/u] that artificially inflates such Finalists' votes [u]as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.[/u] [/quote]His suit won't stand a chance. [/quote] agreed, the organizer can do what ever they want because of that claimer

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  • [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] coolmike699 vote farming, [u]or any other activity[/u] that artificially inflates such Finalists' votes [u]as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.[/u] [/quote]His suit won't stand a chance. EDIT: also, the legal profession must be on the wane in Georgia. Isn't that where those guys who sued Taco Bell over beef content were from? They must be bored, haha. [Edited on 10.03.2012 11:21 AM PDT]

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  • Well the rules give the company the "sole discretion" to determine whether to disqualify him. Though no, I don't think it was right

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  • I'm no attourney, but the rules seem pretty clear to me. "Vote farming" may not have a formal definition, but it is only one example of many that fall under the category of "obtaining votes for any Submission and Video by any fraudulent or inappropriate means". [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] coolmike699 The question here is, is asking people to vote for you online "artificially inflating" the number of votes received?[/quote]Yes, I believe it is. The expected outcome is for people to vote for whichever submission they thought was best.

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  • I see "vote farming" as using a bot or something, not asking people to vote for you. idk.

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  • Pfft. No idea. I'm gonna go with no. [Edited on 10.03.2012 11:10 AM PDT]

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