These One Trillion Agents Hackathon terms and conditions which incorporate the NEAR Community Events Terms and Conditions imposed by NEAR Foundation (the “Sponsor”) and Devpost Terms of Service (the “Official Rules”) describe the terms and conditions on which the Sponsor and Devpost offers you (“you” or “Entrant”) the opportunity to participate in the One Trillion Agents 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 January 28, 2025 to February 21, 2025 (“Registration Period”).

Submission Period: January 31, 2025 (12:00 am UTC) – March 2, 2025 (11:45 PM UTC) (“Submission Period”).

Judging Period: March 5, 2025 (10:00 am UTC) – March 9, 2025 (11:45 pm UTC) (“Judging Period”).

Winners Announced: On or around March 10, 2025 (5:00 pm UTC).

2. Sponsor and Administrator

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

3. Eligibility

A. The Hackathon IS open to: 

• Individuals who are at least the age of majority in the country 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: 

• 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: Central African Republic, Cuba, Belarus, Eritrea, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Palestine, North Korea, the Crimea Region of Ukraine, non-government controlled areas of Eastern Ukraine, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela.) or an entity or person restricted by United States and Swiss law export controls and sanctions, or any country forbidden by the Sponsor’s Community Events Terms and Conditions, and the Devpost's Terms of Service.

• Individuals directly employed by the Sponsor or the Administrator or NEAR Dev.

• Employees, representatives and agents* of the Sponsor or the Administrator

• 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 or Administrator, a real or apparent conflict of interest.

*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. Chinese residents

Entrants from the People’s Republic of China, excluding Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macau SAR, and Taiwan (“Mainland China”) are subject to additional terms and conditions as set out below:

Entrants from Mainland China hereby undertake to fully understand and adhere to any and all applicable laws, regulations, rules, orders, and other regulatory documents within Mainland China concerning cryptocurrencies (referred to in specific documents as virtual currency, electronic currency, etc., including but not limited to Bitcoin, USDT), as well as activities associated with cryptocurrencies. The aforementioned laws, regulations, rules, orders, and other regulatory documents include, but are not limited to, the Notice on the Prevention of Bitcoin Risks issued on December 3, 2013, the Announcement on the Prevention of Risks Associated with Token Issuance and Financing issued on September 4, 2017, the notice issued by the National Development and Reform Commission on September 3, 2021, regarding the regulation of virtual currency mining activities, and the notice issued on September 15, 2021, regarding the further prevention and disposal of risks associated with virtual currency trading speculation. Entrants pledge not to contravene the aforementioned laws, regulations, rules, orders, and other regulatory documents during the Event or in any action related to the Event. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that any Entrant materials do not encompass or reflect activities prohibited by applicable laws, such as token financing, token-to-token exchanges, token-to-fiat or fiat-to-token exchanges, token pricing, cryptocurrency (virtual currency) mining, and gambling.

For the purpose of this Clause, “Entrants from Mainland China” shall include, without limitation, any individuals who are either residents, citizens, or otherwise located within Mainland China; entities incorporated, registered, or effectively managed from within Mainland China; and any participant whose activities, irrespective of their geographical location, fall under the regulatory purview of Mainland China laws. This encompasses Entrants contributing to, accessing, or using NEAR's services and platforms from within Mainland China, and extends to those whose actions, intentionally or unintentionally, involve or affect Mainland China's legal domain.

The provision of Rewards shall not be construed as the Foundation aiding, abetting, or assisting Entrants in any activities that may be seen as illegal under the Mainland China laws whether before, during or after the Hackathon. In the case of Entrants found to engage in illegal activities by any jurisdiction, the Foundation reserves the right to remove you from the Event in accordance with Clause 14.2 of  the NEAR Community Events Terms and Conditions incorporated by reference. Further, the Sponsor hereby clarifies that Rewards are not to be construed as investments, fundraising opportunities, or mechanisms supporting cryptocurrency transactions that may contravene the laws of Mainland China, or any other jurisdiction. Entrants acknowledge that their engagement with the Hackathon and any associated rewards are in full compliance with the legal standards and regulations of their respective jurisdictions, particularly avoiding any activities that could be interpreted as financial transactions or investments under Mainland China's legal framework. The Sponsor emphasizes the non-financial, community-building nature of these rewards.

If, in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, rules, orders, and other regulatory documents, Entrants from Mainland China are not allowed to participate in the Hackathon, the Sponsor reserves the right to remove you from the Hackathon in accordance with Clause 14.2 of NEAR Community Events Terms and Conditions

Entrants shall understand that cryptocurrencies (virtual currencies) do not hold legal tender status in China. In cases where any Tokens are provided as rewards, Entrants shall not anticipate them possessing fungible, store of value, or other currency-like properties.

Without prejudice to Clause 8.1 of NEAR Community Events Terms and Conditions Rewards do not constitute any consideration for the grant of intellectual property rights under Clause 8.1. Entrants must unconditionally comply with Clause 8.1 of NEAR Community Events Terms and Conditions

5. How To Enter 

Entrants may enter by visiting 1t-agents.devpost.com (“Hackathon Website”) and following the below steps:

• Register for the Hackathon on the Hackathon Website by clicking the “Join Hackathon” button. To complete registration, sign up to create a free Devpost account, or log in with an existing Devpost account. This will enable you to receive important updates and to create your Submission.

• Entrants will obtain access to the required developer tools and complete a Project described below in Project Requirements. Use of the developer tools will be subject to the license agreement related thereto. Entry in the Hackathon constitutes consent for the Sponsor and Devpost to collect and maintain an entrant’s personal information for the purpose of operating and publicizing the Hackathon.

• Build a Project that meets the requirements of one of the below descriptions (each a “Track”), to be eligible for the relevant Prize (each a “Track Prize”).

• DeFi Agents: Market-making agents, yield optimization, portfolio

• management, etc.

• Social Media Agents: Memecoin agents for Twitter and Telegram.

• Absurd Agents: Betting agents, chess AI battles, and more.

• Create a video that includes footage that explains your project’s features and functionality through a comprehensive demonstration.

• Complete and enter all of the required fields on the “Enter a Submission” page of the Hackathon Website (each a “Submission”) during the Submission Period and follow the requirements below.

Project Requirements

(i) What to Create: Entrants must build an app using NEAR technology, NEAR adjacent technology or third party technology provided by one of the Hackathon sponsors (each a “Project”) and submit it for one of the Tracks:

• DeFi Agents: Market-making agents, yield optimization, portfolio

• management, etc.

• Social Media Agents: Memecoin agents for Twitter and Telegram.

• Absurd Agents: Betting agents, chess AI battles, and more.

(ii) Functionality: The Project must be capable and running consistently on NEAR Testnet or Mainnet. This will include Projects built with adjacent projects such as Aurora and Bitte, and Projects built with third party technology provided by one of the Hackathon sponsors.

(iii) Platforms: A submitted Project must run on the platform for which it is intended and which is specified in the Submission Requirements. 

(iv) New & Existing: Projects must be newly created or substantially modified by the Entrant during the hackathon submission period.

(v) Third Party Integrations: If a Project integrates any third-party SDK, APIs and/or data, Entrant must be authorized to use them.

(vi) Testing: The Entrant must make the Project available free of charge and without any restriction, for testing, evaluation and use by the Sponsor, Administrator and Judges until the Judging Period ends. 

Entrants must make their Project available in the following method: 

• Provide a URL to your open source code repository for judging and testing. Your code must have an open source license like one of the below:

•  MIT - https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT   

• Apache 2.0 - https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0   

• 3-Clause BSD - https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause

Submission Requirements. Submissions to the Hackathon must meet the following requirements:

• Include a Project built with the required developer tools and meets the above Project Requirements.

• Provide a URL to your open source Project code repository for judging and testing. Your code must have an open source license similar to one of the below:

•  MIT - https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT   

• Apache 2.0 - https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0   

• 3-Clause BSD - https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause

• Include a text description that should explain the features, functionality, and Track for your Project. If the Project is being submitted for a Sponsor Prize (defined below), the description must include how the Project fulfills the specific Sponsor Requirements listed in Section 8. Prizes.

• Include a demonstration video of your Project. The video portion of the submission:

• (1) should not exceed three (3) minutes

• (2) should include footage that shows the Project functioning on the device for which it was built

• (3) must be uploaded to and made publicly visible on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook Video, or Youku, and a link to the video must be provided on the submission form on the Hackathon Website; and

• (4) must not include third-party trademarks, copyrighted music or other material unless the Entrant has permission to use such material.

• Select the track the Project is being submitted into.

• Be the submitter's original work, be solely owned by the submitter, and not violate the IP rights of any other person or entity.

• Access must be provided to an Entrant’s working Project for judging and testing by providing a link to a website, functioning demo, or a test build. If Entrant’s website is private, Entrant must include login credentials in its testing instructions.

• Multiple Submissions: An Entrant may submit more than one Submission.

Language Requirements

All Submission materials must be in English or, if not in English, the Entrant must provide an English translation of the demonstration video, text description, and testing instructions as well as all other materials submitted. 

Team Representation

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. The Representative must meet the eligibility requirements above. By entering a Submission on the Hackathon Website 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. 

Intellectual Property

Your submission must be your (or your Team’s or Organization’s) original work product, solely owned by you, your Team, or your Organization, with no other person or entity holding any rights or interests in it. It must not violate the intellectual property or other rights of any third party, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, patent, contract, or privacy rights. While Entrants may contract third parties for technical assistance, all components of the submission must result from the Entrant’s ideas and creativity, with the Entrant retaining full ownership. Submissions may include open source software or hardware if entrants comply with applicable licenses and enhance the underlying open source product. By entering the Hackathon, you represent and warrant that your submission meets these requirements.

All submissions remain the intellectual property of their creators. However, Entrants grant the Sponsor and Administrator a fully paid, non-exclusive license to use their submission for judging purposes. The Sponsor and Devpost may promote submissions and use the name, likeness, voice, and image of contributors in materials publicizing the Hackathon and its results during the event and for three years afterward. Some submission components may be displayed publicly, while others will be reviewed by the Sponsor, Devpost, and judges for evaluation. Entrants further represent and warrant that their submissions do not infringe on third-party rights unless proper permissions are obtained and are free from harmful code such as viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware or any other disabling devices or harmful or malicious code.

Financial or Preferential Support

A Project must not have been developed, or derived from a Project developed, with financial or preferential support from the Sponsor or Administrator. Such Projects include, but are not limited to, those that received funding or investment for their development, were developed under contract, or received a commercial license, from the Sponsor or Administrator any time prior to the end of Hackathon Submission Period. The Sponsor, at their sole discretion, may disqualify a Project, if awarding either a Track Prize or a Sponsor Prize (collectively, the “Prizes’)to the Project would create a real or apparent conflict of interest.  

6. 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. 

 7. 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. 

8. Prizes  

With a General prize pool of $50K and up to $60k+ in sponsored prizes, every submission has a shot at glory:

• DeFi Track Winners: $20,000 split between 5 best teams

• Social Media Track Winners: $20,000 split between 5 best teams

• Absurd Agents Track Winners: $10,000 split between 4 best teams

• Sponsored bounties – Please refer to this document

General Track Prizes

Sponsor Prizes

Any sponsored prize is subject to the sponsor's discretion and may be withdrawn if the sponsor does not receive eligible submissions.

IMPORTANT NOTES ON MULTIPLE PRIZE ELIGIBILITY:

• A project can win up to two (2) Track Prizes and up to two (2) Sponsored bounty Prize per Sponsor (“Sponsor Prize”).

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

NOTE: Conversion price from USD to $NEAR will be calculated according to the closing price of $NEAR on February 27, 2025. Cryptocurrency is subject to a high degree of risk, volatility and illiquidity. Entrants should make their own investigations and evaluations of any cryptocurrency that will be delivered pursuant thereto. Entrants 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  relevant Prize among their Team or Organization’s participating members, as the Representative deems appropriate. The monetary Prize will be transferred to the winning Entrant’s NEAR wallet address (if an individual) or the Representative’s NEAR wallet address (if a Team or Organization), 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. Payment of Prizes: Prizes will be paid in accordance with the Sponsor’s policies upon submission of an invoice by you and subject to successful KYC/AML checks.

The Sponsor/Administrator reserves the right to conduct due diligence in respect of you as it sees fit, which may include “Know Your Client” (KYC), “Know Your Business” (KYB), anti-money laundering (AML), and/or sanctions, checks (“Due Diligence”). The payment of a Prize is conditional on satisfactory completion of Due Diligence. You agree to cooperate with the Sponsor/Administrator in respect of Due Diligence.

E. 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, 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, and in the case of a Team or Organization, all participating members, hereby release, indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Sponsor, any subsidiaries, 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. 

 11. Participation Requirements

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. 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.

12. Content Standards

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 and the NEAR Community Terms and Conditions at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1owUg4ElwKnK_lDV8qxo2dK_pSFk8rs5b/view?usp=drive_lin for additional rules that apply to your participation in the Hackathon and more generally your use of the Hackathon Website. Such Terms of Service and Terms and Conditions 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 or the Terms and Conditions 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. Hackathon staff can be contacted at: maria@neardevhub.org.

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.