HP Open Contest is a contest started locally in Bucharest by Hewlett-Packard with the purpose to encourage the development of specific open source applications in the web and mobile field.

The applications must be developed, released and maintained under an open-source license by the contestants. These projects will be publicly available through well-known open-source code repositories.

 

 

Update: Now you can read below the official rules of the contest!

 

WEB IN PROGRESS CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES (** Revised 30.06.2010 **)

THE WEB IN PROGRESS CONTEST ("CONTEST") SPONSORED BY THE HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY (“HP”) IS OPEN ONLY TO STUDENTS IN THE TECHNICAL FIELD FROM BUCHAREST UNIVERSITIES.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

1. CONTEST PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES:

· Encourage the development of specific open source applications in the web and mobile field

· Generate awareness of the HP web presence: http://www.hp.com

2. ELIGIBILITY: Open to students pursuing degrees or graduated in 2010 in technical fields such as Hardware or Software Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology, but not limited to, from all Bucharest universities. HP reserves the right, at any time, to verify eligibility requirements, in any manner it deems appropriate. By participating, each entrant (“Entrant”) agrees to these Official Rules (the “Rules”), which are final and binding in all respects.

3. CONTEST ENTRY PERIOD: The registration period begins at 12:00:00 a.m. EET on June 30, 2010 and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. EET on July 20, 2010 (the “Entry Period”).

The contest period begins at 12:00:00 a.m. EET on July 25, 2010 and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. EET on September 25, 2010 (the “Contest Period”).

The Website (as defined below) server is the official time keeping device for the Contest.

4. CONTEST ENTRY GUIDELINES: The Contest invites Entrants to visit http://tiny.cc/WebInProgress (the “Contest Website” or “Website”) and to submit a mobile or web application (each, an “App”) at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (the “Contest E-mail”). Entrants may participate in the Contest individually or in teams of up to three (3) (“Team”) so long as all members of a team meet the eligibility requirements stated in these Rules.

To be eligible, an App will need to be:

· A web application or related to the web application and activities

· A mobile application or related to the mobile applications

5. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS: Each App must, in HP’s sole discretion, also meet the following guidelines:

· App cannot be sexually explicit or suggestive, unnecessarily violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group, profane or pornographic, contain nudity or any materially dangerous activity;

· App cannot promote alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing), any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any particular political agenda or message;

· App cannot be obscene or offensive, endorse any form of hate or hate group;

· App Comments cannot defame, misrepresent or contain disparaging remarks about HP or its products, or other people, products or companies;

· App cannot contain trademarks, logos or trade dress owned by others or advertise or promote any brand or product of any kind (except HP’s brands or products), without permission, or contain any personal identification, such as license plate numbers, personal names, e-mail addresses or street addresses;

· App cannot contain copyrighted materials owned by others (including photographs, sculptures, paintings and other works of art or images published on or in websites, television, movies or other media) without permission;

· App cannot contain materials embodying the names, likenesses, photographs, or other indicia identifying any person, living or dead, without permission;

· App cannot communicate messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which HP wishes to associate; and

· App cannot be in violation of any law.

In addition, you must:

· Identify all software (and the corresponding license) in your App that you did not write yourself;

· Not use any third party software (other than open source) in your App;

· Release the App under an open source license such as LGPL, Apache License 2.0, Common Public License, Mozilla Public License;

· Make the App publicly available using well-known open source means. Please note that the HP will not provide any development or hosting means as part of this Contest;

· Use English language in App, App Comments or any other App Documents.

By submitting an App for consideration, each entrant agrees that HP may, at its option, disqualify an entrant if the individual fails to meet eligibility requirements or submits an inappropriate project.

6. TO PARTICIPATE: To participate in the Contest, send an email to the Contest E-mail during the Entry Period, and follow the online instructions from the Website or the ones received by email to register for the Contest. The entry process is summarized as follows:

A. Register yourself or your Team by e-mail until July 20, 2010. Send an e-mail to the Contest E-mail that will include

· Your name and all the names of your Team members

· A Curriculum Vitae of you and all of your team members

· A title and description of maximum 5000 words for your App

· The open source license under which the App will be submitted

B. You will receive a confirmation e-mail until July 25, 2010 if your App proposal qualifies for the contest.

C. Develop your App and write any related documentation. HP is not responsible to provide support of any kind for Entrants for any activities related to the App.

D. Provide the unique URL for your App and any other relevant details by e-mail until September 25, 2010.

E. Participate in a live presentation between September 26, 2010 and September 28, 2010 at a place and time communicated by email after September 25, 2010.

Entrants must be the copyright owner of the App submitted. All Apps submitted remain the property and responsibility of the Entrant. Apps that are not properly submitted and received by the end date/time or that do not comply with these Rules will be ineligible. Any other form of entry is void. Any waiver of any obligation hereunder by HP does not constitute a general waiver of any obligation to Entrants. HP reserves the right to waive the Contest entry requirements set forth herein in its reasonable discretion. HP reserves the right, in its reasonable discretion, during the Entry and Contest Period, to request that any Entrant resubmit his or her App which fails to comply with the Contest entry requirements prior to any judging period.

By submitting an App for consideration, each entrant agrees that HP may, at its option, disqualify an inappropriate App, at any time, without any further explanations.

Under no circumstances, will HP or Release Parties be responsible or otherwise liable for any App submitted in this Contest or any damages or loses of any kind, including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages related to the usage of any App submitted in this Contest by the Entrants or any other third party.

7. JUDGING: At the end of the Contest Period, eligible Apps will be reviewed by a panel of judges, whose decisions regarding this Contest are final and binding in all respects. Judges will base their decision as to whether or not an App is acceptable (each, an “Accepted App”) on the following criteria (“Judging Criteria”):

a) Existence and implementation of functional specifications documentation

b) Existence and implementation of technical specifications documentation

c) Marketing impact of title, tagline and presentation website for the App

d) Availability of the source code hosted on an open source code repository. Please note that the HP will NOT provide access in any form or of any kind for the Entrants to such a repository as part of this Contest

e) The source code must follow a de-facto industry coding standard

f) Clear, automated and documented (in English) building procedure of the App binaries from source

g) Existence and completeness of development documentation, such as source code comments (mandatory in English)

h) Testing plan (manual and/or automated)

i) App user documentation

j) Application binaries and documented installation procedure

k) Presentation website for the App

l) App ease of use

m) Comparison with other products on the market (open source or commercial)

n) Originality and creativity

o) Implementation of the chosen development, analysis and project management methodologies by the Entrant

p) Live presentation of the App. If requested by the Judges, Entrants must also give a live presentation of maximum 15 minutes about the App and optionally the development process or a demo. From the total presentation time, 5 minutes will be allocated for questions and answers. The presentation approximate time and location will be communicated 24 hours in advance by the Judges by e-mail.

HP reserves the right to select the panel of judges, at its sole discretion. This review will be completed by October 10, 2010. By submitting an App for consideration, each entrant agrees that judges’ decisions are final and not questionable in any way.

8. PRIZE DETAILS: HP plans to offer three (3) prizes selected from the Accepted Apps. Details regarding the prizes will be provided after the end of the review period described above.

9. WINNER NOTIFICATION: Winners will be notified by email on or about two (2) weeks following the end of the review period described above. If a potential winner is found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Rules, the prize may be forfeited. HP is not responsible for any change of email, mailing address and/or telephone number of Entrants.

10. RULES: The present Rules are subject to change at HP’s sole discretion without any prior notification. The Entrants will be notified by e-mail about the changes. HP is not responsible for any change of email, mailing address and/or telephone number of Entrants.

11. GENERAL CONDITIONS: BY SUBMITTING AN APP, ENTRANT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HIS/HER APP MAY BE POSTED ON HP’S WEBSITES AND ELSEWHERE, IN HP’S DISCRETION. Winners may be required to complete, execute, and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and, where lawful, Publicity Release upon request. If Affidavit/Release is not returned within ten (10) business days of notification or winner is found to be ineligible or not in compliance with these Rules, the prize will be forfeited. If a release is not required, prizes will be shipped within 4-6 weeks after the completion of the winner notification. If any prize notification or prize is returned as undeliverable or if winner is disqualified for any reason, the prize will be forfeited. By entering, each Entrant agrees to release and hold HP, HP’s affiliates, and the officers, directors, employees, representatives, contractors, and agents of each such entity ("Released Parties") harmless from any and all liability whatsoever for any injury, loss, or damage of any kind to any person or property resulting from (i) acceptance, possession, or use or misuse of any prize, (ii) participation in this Contest or any Contest-related activities, or (iii) use of the App in any manner. Except where legally prohibited, each winner grants (and will confirm that grant in writing) permission to HP and Released Parties, exercised in their sole discretion, the right to use the winner’s name, picture, likeness, voice, biographical information, and App (whether altered, changed, modified, edited, used alone, or used with other works) at any time, in any form, in any media, without compensation of any kind and without notice, review or approval.

By submitting an App, each Entrant warrants that (i) the App does not violate any law or regulation or any right of any third party, including those laws, regulations, and rights related to copyrights, trademarks, publicity, or privacy, (ii) the Entrant has followed the Rules and has the right to grant the rights to an App as provided in these Rules, (iii) the App has not been published or submitted in any other competition; (iv) the App is the Entrant’s original work; (v) the App has not won previous awards; (vi) the Entrant has obtained permission from any person whose name or likeness is used in the App; and (vii) that publication of the App via various media including web posting, will not infringe on the rights of any third party. Any such Entrant will indemnify and hold harmless, HP and Released Parties from any claims to the contrary. Any Entrant whose work includes likenesses of third parties or contains elements not owned by the Entrant (such as, but not limited to, depictions of persons, buildings, trademarks or logos) must be able to provide legal releases for such use including HP’s use of such App, in a form satisfactory to HP, upon request, prior to award of prize and/or naming of Entrant as a winner. Further, by submitting an App, the Entrant grants permission for HP and Released Parties to publish, post, adapt, edit, display, and/or modify or otherwise use the App in any form, in any manner, and in any media, without any time or territorial limitation, deemed appropriate by HP or the Released Parties, without compensation of any kind to Entrant. Entrant further agrees that submission of an App is gratuitous and made without restriction, and will not place HP under any obligation, that HP is free to disclose or otherwise disclose the ideas contained in the App on a non-confidential basis to anyone or otherwise use the ideas without any additional compensation to Entrant. Entrant acknowledges that, by acceptance of its submission, HP does not waive any rights to use similar or related ideas previously known to HP, or developed by its employees, or obtained from sources other than Entrant. Entrants acknowledge that HP has no obligation to use any App you submit.

12. LIABILITY LIMITATIONS: Neither HP nor Released Parties are responsible or otherwise liable in any manner for any (i) lost, late, stolen, illegible, misdirected or non-delivered Apps, (ii) accessibility or traffic congestion, miscommunication, or failed computer, network, telephone, satellite, cable, transmission line, or communication line, (iii) technical failure, malfunction, or difficulty, whether related to software or hardware, (iv) jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmission, (iv) incorrect, incomplete, or inaccurate information or typographical errors, (v) unauthorized access to, tampering with, or hacking into any website or electronic device, or (vii) other error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic or network. HP may, at its sole discretion, disqualify any individual who tampers with any App or with the operation of the Contest, who acts in violation of these Rules or otherwise in a non-sportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or who displays any intent to threaten, abuse or harass any other person. If, for any reason, the Contest is affected by any computer virus, worm, bug, tampering, hacking, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failure or other cause which, in the sole opinion of HP, corrupts or otherwise affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Contest, HP may in its sole discretion cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest, and determine winners from Apps already received or as otherwise deemed fair and equitable by HP. Should multiple users of the same e-mail account enter the Contest and a dispute thereafter arises regarding the identity of the Entrant, the authorized subscriber of said e-mail account at the time of entry will be considered the Entrant. “Authorized subscriber” is defined as the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider or other organization which is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses or the domain associated with the submitted email address. Please see the HP's privacy policy at http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/privacy.html for details of our policy regarding the personal information collected in connection with this Contest.

IN NO EVENT WILL HP OR RELEASED PARTIES BE RESPONSIBLE OR OTHERWISE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES RELATED TO THE CONTEST, INCLUDING ANY ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE E-MAIL OR WEBSITE OR ANY DOWNLOADING FROM OR PRINTING MATERIAL FROM THE WEBSITE. EVERYTHING ON THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

13. WINNERS' NAMES: Names of the winner’s will be announced by e-mail after October 10, 2010.