Terms & Conditions

1. Competition Dates: The Alibaba.com Global Startup Challenge ("Contest") begins 24 August, 2009 at 12:00:01 AM GMT, and ends 27 January 2010 with the Finale Event for winner announcement to be held 30 January 2010 or at a later date subsequently announced on the official Contest Site at www.globalstartupchallenge.com (collectively, "Contest Period"). During the Contest Period there are a series of events which start and end on or about the dates and times noted below:

EVENTS	Events START at 12:00:01AM GMT on Dates Noted	Events END at 11:59:59 PM GMT on Dates Noted
ENTRY PERIOD	24 August 2009	6 September
PROMOTER JUDGING PERIOD TO SELECT, NOTIFY, AND VERIFY EIGHT ENTRANTS TO COMMENCE TRADING	7 September	20 September
TRADING OFFICIALLY BEGINS	October 6	27 Jan 2010
PUBLIC VOTING PERIOD TO DETERMINE PRIZE WINNER	October 6	27 Jan 2010
WINNER ANNOUNCED, FINALE EVENT* (*Winner required to attend Finale Event, See Section 11 & 12 for details)	30 Jan 2010 or a later date to be announced on the Contest Site

Note: All dates/times are 2009 / 2010 GMT

2. Contest Entities: Alibaba.com (Europe) Ltd., 18 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QL referred to as the "Promoter". Administrator: Ptarmigan Bell Pottinger, Calls Wharf, 2 Call Lane, Leeds LS2 7JU. Promoter and Administrator are collectively referred to as the “Contest Entities”.

3. Eligibility: Contest is open only to persons who, as of date of entry, are legal residents in the UK, are at least 18 years or older and who are/become registered free members (each a "Registered Member") of http://www.alibaba.com on or before 6 October 2009 and remain members in good standing until the Contest concludes ("Alibaba Site"). This Contest is void outside of the United Kingdom.

This Contest is not open to an owner of any established businesses. “Owner” of any established businesses means any person who: (i) has owned, and actively been engaged in the day-to-day operation of the business identified in his/her registration form during its existence up to and including 31 July 2009, and (ii) as of 31 July 2009 owned at least 51% of that business. Employees, officers and directors of the Contest Entities and their respective parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies, any company involved in the Contest, together with their agents and immediate family members are not eligible to enter. For purposes of this Contest, "immediate family members" means parents, spouses, children, siblings, in-laws, grandmothers, or grandfathers. To become a Registered Member of the Alibaba Site, you must register for an account and agree to the Alibaba Site's "Terms of Use" set forth at this link ("Terms of Use"). There is no fee or charge to become a Registered Member.

4. How To Enter: To enter the Contest, go to the Contest Site at www.globalstartupchallenge.com during the Entry Period and: 1) complete the registration form by providing all requested information; registration forms must be complete to be eligible; and 2) in the appropriate spaces provided on the registration form, submit an original essay explaining why you should be considered for a contestant's position, and outline your business idea and plan (“Essay”). Your Essay must in part describe what personal attributes you have which make you a deserving candidate and why and how you intend to start your business. You may also wish to submit a www.Youtube.com video link about your business idea and plan to supplement your entry form. Responsibility for the content and appropriate usage of the footage provided rests entirely with the entrant, who agrees to abide by the terms and conditions of usage as defined by www.youtube.com. There is a limit of one (1) entry per person.

Entries may only be submitted online. By entering this Contest, each winner agrees to grant Promoter, its agents, subsidiaries and affiliates a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sub-licensable right to exercise the copyright, publicity, database rights and any other rights entrant has in the Entry, including their submitted youtube content, in any media now known or hereafter devised (including without limitation, the Internet), for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.

Furthermore, each entrant agrees to waive his/her moral rights to the Entry and sign an agreement to this affect. Each entrant hereby represents and warrants that he/she is the original author of his/her Essay and the Essay will not infringe any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy. Promoter's use of information submitted to Promoter in connection with this Contest will be subject to the terms and conditions of these Official Rules and the Terms of Use available on the Alibaba Site. Entries must be received by 11:59:59 PM GMT on 6 September 2009 in order to be eligible. "Entry (ies)", as that term is used herein, shall mean the Essay and video/youtube footage information provided by an entrant to Promoter in connection with the Contest. Promoter's decisions are final on all matters relating to this Contest. Use of the Alibaba Site is subject to the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and other policies available on the Alibaba Site.

5. Judging to Determine Contestants: At the conclusion of the Entry Period, all eligible Entries received at the Contest Site will be judged by a panel of judges assembled by Promoter ("Panel"). The Panel will score each eligible Entry based on the following judging criteria:

- Quality of Essay submissions

- Validity and likely success of the business idea/plan

- Skills and creativity in the presentation of the business idea/plan and the entrant himself/herself Based on the Panel's assessments, the Top Eight (8) entrants will be selected to compete in the trading round. The judges' decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to this Contest. All Entries are subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules.

6. Notification of Contestants: The final eight Potential Contestants will be notified by mail, phone, or e-mail on or about 14 September, 2009 and will be required to agree and sign and properly execute additional release(s) to use and publish their winning entries and a publicity release. The Potential Contestants may also be required to furnish proof of identify, address and birth date for verification. The additional documents shall be returned via e-mail or facsimile (and subsequently by mail per instructions to be provided) to Administrator. If any documents sent by any means to a Potential Contestant are returned as undeliverable or if a Potential Contestant fails to properly execute and return all documents described herein in the time noted, or if a Potential Contestant found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, the Terms of Use, and/or the Alibaba Code of Conduct, the Potential Contestant will be disqualified and, at the sole discretion of Promoter, an alternative Potential Contestant will be selected and notified, time permitting.

7. Official Trading Round: During the Official Trading Round, the final contestants will be required to trade on the Alibaba Site to execute their business ideas/plans submitted during the Entry Period. Each final contestant will be assigned an URL on the Contest Site to report each item of their purchases and sales. The contestants may purchase the goods only from suppliers on the Alibaba Site or through traditional offline channels and sell the goods so purchased only through traditional offline channels. In any event, purchases or sales via any online marketplace website other than the Alibaba Site shall be disqualified from being counted in the Contest and Promoter shall have the right to reject or remove any information submitted for publishing on the Contest Site in connection with such disqualified purchases and/or sales. Promoter reserves the right to reject or remove any information on the Contest Site which is offensive, defamatory, threatening, discriminatory, indecent, obscene, or otherwise unlawful or illegal.

Each final contestant will be entitled to receive a fund up to £1,000 from Promoter (“Fund”) to start their business. The contestants may use the Fund solely for the purpose of the Contest. If any contestant is found to have used any part of the Fund for any unauthorized purpose, the contestant will be immediately disqualified from the Contest and be liable to repay the Fund advanced by Promoter in full. Notwithstanding the advancement of the Fund, all costs and expenses associated with the trading activities under the terms of the Contest including, but not limited to, telecommunications costs, purchase prices, delivery expenses, travelling expenses, customs duties, taxes, etc., are the sole responsibility of each contestant. Each contestant must comply with the policies of the Alibaba Site and all applicable laws in respect of all of his/her activities during the trading round.

8. Public Voting: At the commencement of the Public Voting Period set forth in Section 1 above, the Contestants profiles will be posted for public voting on the Contest Site. Each day during the Public Voting Period, one person may vote for a maximum of eight different Contestants, per day. Subsequent votes in excess of stated maximum per voting day by a single registered member will be disqualified.

9. Determining Prize Winners: At the end of the Public Voting Period set forth in Section 1 above, the final public vote count will be recorded. Upon verification of the results from the Public Vote, the final public vote count will determine the Contest Winner. In the event of a tie for determining the Contest Winner, all tied entries will be re-judged by an additional judge selected by Promoter, who will break the tie. The judges' decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to this Contest.
Designation as a Contest Winner is subject to the contestant's proof of compliance with these Official Rules, maintaining compliance with these Official Rules and Alibaba.com membership, and approval by Promoter. Each entrant acknowledges that other entrants may have created ideas and concepts contained in their Entries that may have familiarities or similarities to his/her Entry, and that he/she will not be entitled to any compensation or right to negotiate with the Contest Entities because of these familiarities or similarities. The Judges' and Promoter's decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to this Contest, including interpretation and application of these Official Rules.

10. Notification of Prize Winners: The Contest Winner will be notified by mail, telephone, and/or email, at the Administrator's sole discretion, on or about 29 January 2010. The Contest Winner will be required to claim the Prize and confirm the attendance at the Finale Event via facsimile or email (and subsequently by mail) to Administrator within 48 hours of attempted notification. If any documents sent to a Contest Winner by any means are returned as undeliverable, or if a Contest Winner fails to properly execute and return all documents described herein in the time noted, or if a Contest Winner is found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, the Contest Winner will be disqualified and Promoter will determine who will be selected as the alternate Contest Winner based on the next highest scoring entry as determined by Promoter. No more than one (1) Grand Prize will be awarded. Except where prohibited by law, all entrants agree that Promoter may announce the name and city of residence of the Contest Winner online. In the event that a Contest Winner is disqualified for any reason, Promoter reserves the right to award the prize to an alternate entrant based on the judging criteria detailed above even if the disqualified Contest Winner's name or Entry has been shown or announced online.

11. Finale Event Contest Winner Announcement: The Contest Winner for the £10,000 grant will be announced at a Finale Event scheduled to be held in London, on or close to 30 January, 2009 ("Finale Event"). The Contest Winner must attend the Finale Event to remain eligible for the prize listed below. The Contest Winner agrees that if he/she is unable to attend the Finale Event, the Contest Winner's prize will be forfeited. At the Finale Event, the Contest Winner will make a presentation to the Contest Entities and the Event audience.

12. Prizes: Contest Winner Prize: One Business Grant of £10,000. All Business Grants will be paid by cheque in one installment to the Contest Winner on/about 5th February 2010. Taxes on the prizes are the sole responsibility of the Contest Winner.

Six to nine months following disbursement of Business Grants the Contest Entities may contact the winner to document how their Business Grant has advanced their business or business idea recognized as the Contest Winner. The resulting winner profile or "case study" will be used for publicity purposes as outlined in Section 4.

All other expenses relating to acceptance of a prize ("Prize" or "Prizes") that are not explicitly stated herein, including but not limited to taxes, meals, beverages, alcoholic beverages and gratuities are responsibility of Prize winners.

Promoter and/or Administrator and/or any other relevant party, reserves the right to remove or to deny entry to the Contest Winner and/or guest who engages in a non-sportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person at the Finale Event. All details of other prizes not specified herein shall be determined solely by Promoter. Prizes are non-transferable; no substitutions or cash equivalents allowed, except at the discretion of Promoter in which case a prize of equal or greater value may be awarded. Taxes are the responsibility of the Prize Winner. Actual value may vary based on place of departure and dates of travel. All costs and expenses relating to acceptance and use of prize, which are not explicitly listed herein as being awarded, are responsibility of Prize Winners. All details of any Prize not specified herein shall be determined solely by Promoter.

13. Limitation of Liability: By participating in the Contest, entrants agree to abide by the terms of these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges and release, indemnify, and hold harmless the Contest Entities and each of their affiliates, subsidiaries and their respective agents, representatives, officers, directors, shareholders and employees (collectively, "Releasees") from and against any injuries, losses, damages, claims, actions, or any liability of any kind resulting from or arising from participation in the Contest or acceptance of the Prize that may be awarded.

Entrants agree that this Contest is governed, interpreted and enforced by the laws of United Kingdom, without regard to its conflict of laws principles. Any and all legal actions, claims or proceedings arising out of, or in connection with this Contest must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in London. The Entrant and all persons making claim through or on account of Entrant, hereby agrees to and irrevocably consents to the venue of the applicable courts sitting in London and submits to the jurisdiction of said courts.

Releasees are not responsible for printing or typographical errors in any Contest-related materials; or for transactions that are lost, misdirected, fail to enter into the processing system, or are processed, reported, or transmitted late or incorrectly, or are lost for any reason including computer, telephone, paper transfer, mail system, human or other error; or for electronic, computer, or telephonic malfunction or error, access any website associated with this Contest, or process any transaction thereon. Promoter reserves the right, in its sole discretion to disqualify any Entry and to modify, terminate, or suspend this Contest should virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, action of entrants, or other causes corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness, or proper play of the Contest and, if the Contest is modified, terminated, or suspended, select winners from those eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to event requiring such modification, termination, or suspension. Should the Contest be terminated or modified prior to the stated expiration date, notice will be posted on www.globalstartupchallenge.com. Promoter reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies from any person attempting to damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest to the fullest extent permitted by law. Any attempts by an individual to access any website associated with this Contest via a bot script or other brute force attack or any other unauthorized means will result in the IP address becoming ineligible. Use of automated entry devices or programs is prohibited.

14. Data Protection. Promoter will hold an entrant's personal data for a reasonable period of time to enable it to contact the entrant, process the entries, award the prizes, announce the winner, promote and advertise the Contest and make any reasonable uses for the operation of the Contest. Such data may be passed to third parties to enable such third parties to fulfil any necessary requirements relating to the Contest. Any other use of personal data will be in accordance with, and subject to, the Alibaba Site's Privacy Policy.

15. Acknowledgment by Entrants: EACH ENTRANT ACCEPTS THE CONDITIONS STATED IN THESE OFFICIAL RULES, AGREES TO BE BOUND BY THE DECISIONS OF THE CONTEST ENTITIES AND PUBLIC VOTING, WARRANTS THAT HE/SHE IS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CONTEST, AND AGREES TO RELEASE, INDEMNIFY, AND HOLD HARMLESS CONTEST ENTITIES AND EACH OF THEIR PARENT COMPANIES, DIVISIONS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCIES, AND THE RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES AND AGENCIES OF EACH FROM AND AGAINST ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, LOSSES, LIABILITY, AND DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, (INCLUDING REASONABLE LEGAL FEES AND EXPENSES) ASSERTED AGAINST ANY OF THEM, INCURRED, SUSTAINED, OR ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE, ACCEPTANCE, OR MISUSE OF ANY PRIZE OR WHILE PREPARING FOR, PARTICIPATING IN, AND/OR TRAVELLING TO OR FROM ANY CONTEST-RELATED ACTIVITY, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY INJURY, DAMAGE, DEATH, LOSS, OR ACCIDENT TO PERSON OR PROPERTY, OR FROM THE RESPECTIVE ENTRANTS' BREACH OR ALLEGED BREACH OF ANY AGREEMENT OR WARRANTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONTEST, INCLUDING THESE OFFICIAL RULES.

© 2009 Alibaba.com (Europe) Ltd. All rights reserved. These Official Rules may not be copied, edited or used for any other purpose, commercial or otherwise, without the express written consent of Alibaba.com (Europe) Ltd.