RULES & REGULATIONS 2012

1. PURPOSE OF THE EARTH AWARDS

The Earth Awards seeks to foster and encourage the development of commercially viable design

solutions. As set forth below in the Submission Guidelines (’Submission Guidelines’),

Contestants will be allowed to submit their solutions to enter and will be judged. One (1) winner

will be selected to receive a grand prize and up to five (5) finalists will be selected to receive

runner-up prizes.

2. ELIGIBILITY

The Earth Awards Contest (’Contest’) is open to English speaking individuals, companies,

partnerships and teams (’Contestant’) all of whom are the age of majority in their jurisdiction at the

start of the Contest and who meet the additional requirements set forth in these Official Rules.

Residents of Burma, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Cote D’Ivoire, the Republic of Congo,

the province of Quebec, and wherever else the terms of this contest are prohibited are not eligible.

Only one prize will be awarded to any winner, regardless of the number of individuals on a team.

Individuals who are under any contract that would prohibit Sponsor for the use or display of their

submission at any point during or after the Contest, or those who cannot meet all of the Submission

Guidelines outlined below, are not eligible to enter.

3. SPONSOR

The Contest is sponsored by NYC, Inc. 561 Orange Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022 (’Sponsor’).

Employees, majority shareholders, officers, directors, agents, representatives of Sponsor, or the

promotion and advertising agencies of any aforementioned entity, and their immediate family

members and those living in their household, and each person or entity connected with the

production or administration of the Contest, and each parent company, affiliate, subsidiary, agent

and representative of any aforementioned entity are not eligible.

4. CONTEST DATES

Contest begins at 9:38am Eastern Standard Time on March X, 2012 and ends at 11:59 pm Pacific

Standard Time on May X, 2012, according to Sponsor’s internal time clock. Please review entire

rules to determine Entry deadlines, which are earlier than completion of Contest.

5. HOW TO ENTER

Contest is subject to these official rules (’Official Rules’). To enter, create your entry

(’Submission’) according to the Submission Guidelines as outlined below. Then, log into http://

www.theearthawards.org and complete the online entry form and upload your entry, following the

instructions on the landing page. Note that you must designate a contact person if your Submission

is entered by anything other than a single person. You will be asked to select one of six (6)

categories, listed below, in which to enter your Submission. Sponsor will not verify Submissions

nor will Sponsor return Submissions. After final verification of winners and finalists, Submissions

may be destroyed and will not be returned. You may enter any number of ideas in any number

categories but you may not make the same Submission more than once, regardless of category.

ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN 11:59PM ON May X, 2012

According to Sponsor’s internal time clock.

6. CATEGORIES:

Contestants may enter a unique Submission in any or all Categories. Submissions may only be

entered once (Contestants may not enter the same Submission into more than one category).

‘ BUILT ENVIRONMENT ‘buildings and structures

‘ FUTURE ‘Visionary products and concepts

‘ PRODUCT ‘Physical objects that are useful and respond to a market need

‘ SYSTEMS ‘ designs focused on process to optimize operations, engineering services, or

strategies.

‘ SOCIAL JUSTICE ‘ designs/concepts that improve economic and social conditions

‘ FASHION ‘ designs that will be worn buy a consumer

7. JUDGING AND NOTIFICATION

Judging of all qualified entries will be done in 3 rounds, by distinct panels of qualified judges, and

Sponsor staff members, who comprise industry experts and/or specialist in various relevant fields.

No judge has a stake in the outcome of the winner.

Pre-Round Screening. All Submissions will be subject to pre-round screening in which each

Submission will be reviewed for completion as well as general relevance to the category and overall

topic. All Submissions that successfully pass through the pre-screening round (’Qualified

Submissions’) will move on to Round One.

ROUND ONE:

Sponsor Judges will judge all Qualified Submissions for a possible maximum score of 150 points,

based upon the following criteria:

‘ Category Relevance (up to 50 points)

‘ Creativity (up to 50 points)

‘ Originality (up to 50 points)

Any Submissions with tie scores will be rescored. UP TO 25 Qualified Submissions in each

category will move to Round Two. In the event that under 10 Qualified Submissions have a

minimum score of 113 points, only those Qualified Submissions that have at least 113 points will be

considered Round One Finalists and move to Round Two.

No judge shall have decision making authority for any Qualified Submission in which that judge

either has a financial or other reasonably calculable stake in the outcome of the product, or who

served as a consultant, teacher, mentor, or consultant.

ROUND TWO:

In Round Two, all personally identifiable information relating to the Round Two Finalists shall be

removed. All Round One Finalists will have their Qualified Submissions judged again, by a second

panel of qualified judges.

Round Two Finalists’ Qualified Submissions will be judges for a possible maximum score of 400

total points based upon the following criteria:

‘ Usefulness (up to 100 points)

‘ Scalability (up to 100 points)

‘ Achievability (up to 100 points)

‘ Measurable Success (up to 100 points)

The Round Two Finalist with the highest score in each category in Round Two shall be the

Category Winner. In the event that no one in a particular category achieves a score of at least 340

points, that category shall not be awarded a winner. All Category Winners shall proceed to the Final

Round.

FINAL ROUND:

Category Winners will be notified on, or around August x, 2012, at the email address provided on

the entry form. Winner will have up to 72 hours to respond via email and confirm their intention to

claim their Category prize and to affirm their ability to attend the Final Round, to be held in

London. Category Winners (up to two natural persons in the event of a team effort, but at least one)

must be able to travel to London (Heathrow) from the nearest major airport, and plan to attend the

Final Round in person. Attending the Earth Awards Gala directly following the Final Round is

optional. If Winner notification is returned as undeliverable for any reason, status as Finalist and

Prize Winner may be forfeited and the Submission with the next highest score will be chosen as the

Category Winner

Judging of the Final round will be in-person. Each Category Winner will have to defend its

Submission against the other Category Winners and prove that its Submission is the most

Ecological, for a maximum score of 100 points. The Category Winner with the most points shall be

deemed the winner. Any judge on the Final Judging Panel who may benefit from the awarding of

the Grand Prize to a particular Category Winner shall abstain from voting, and an alternate judge

will be substituted. In the event there is a tie, the winner will be decided based upon which

Qualified Submission has the greatest total points in the previous rounds.

8. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

In addition to the other terms and conditions contained in these Official Rules, your Submission

must be an original work of authorship, created by you, the person (or persons) who has/have

registered as the Contestant. Submission must be in Sponsor’s sole discretion, contain sufficient

technical or explanatory details, including but not limited to financial requirements and

projections, so as to provide a complete analysis of your idea. Your Submission must be in

English, You must provide at least 3 digital photographic images (jpeg) of your invention. Each

photographic image file (’Image File’) or document uploaded may be no less than 600 x 800

pixels in size and no greater than 2 MB. You may also provide .PDF documents of other aspect of

your Submission, including technical drawings, graphs, charts, diagrams, budgets, or renderings,

which shall not be greater than 10MB per file. You may add videos not to exceed ten minutes in

length or 50 MB in size in .MOV .FLV or .AVI format, but the inclusion of videos will not give

any Submission an overall advantage over Contestants who do not provide videos. All

Submissions must be submitted through the Earth Awards Submission portal online, which is

located at http://www.theearthawards.org/portal, we will not accept mailed submissions. Sponsor

recommends, but does not require, that Contestant procure proper intellectual property protection

for their Submissions. Sponsor is not responsible for legal protection of Submissions. Sponsor

may request evidence that Submission is an original work within the meaning of U.S. law at any

time during or after the Contest Period. If, in the sole discretion of Sponsor, Contestant’s work

appears to be an infringement under U.S. law, Sponsor will disqualify Submission. Each

Contestant hereby indemnifies Sponsor and the judges against any and all loss, damages or

liability that they might incur by reason of any breach or alleged breach of this paragraph or these

Official Rules.

9. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Submissions remain the property of Contestant and Sponsor treats Submissions as being eligible,

under U.S. Copyright law, to be entered in this Contest. Contestants recognize that many entries

may be similar in nature and Sponsor’s determination of winning ‘Submissions’ is final.

Contestants are solely responsible for protecting the intellectual property of their Submission. By

entering the Contest, Contestants grant to Sponsor a license to review the Submissions during

judging, as well as use them for publicity purposes as outlined herein. Contestants also grant

Sponsor the right, but not the obligation, to provide all Submissions to venture capital partners

for their review.

10. LICENSE

As a condition of entering Contest, Sponsor shall retain a perpetual non-exclusive royalty-free

license to use Submissions for any purpose whatsoever, short of product commercialization, without

any additional compensation and to display Submissions and/or any prototype thereof, in any and

all media throughout the world for any purpose whatsoever, including without limitation, displaying

Submissions and/or prototypes on Internet websites and/or in museums worldwide, including but

not limited to museums in London, without any additional compensation, the term of which shall be

the entire life of the copyright. Contestant retains all rights to Submission, provided however that

Sponsor may make practically necessary changes to Submission to account for proper display.

Sponsor shall make commercially reasonable efforts to display appropriate and customary credit

lines on any Submission displayed or otherwise featured. Should any Contestant be unwilling or

otherwise unable to enter into license, or provide permissions and or releases or otherwise cannot

accept or receive the prize for any reason, or, if in the sole discretion of Sponsor, Contestant is not

eligible to receive a prize, Contestants with the next highest score may be chosen from the

remaining Submissions until one who is able to meet all requirements can be selected. All potential

prize winners must provide Sponsor with all signatures on required paperwork and return all

documents in a timely manner as required pursuant to these Official Rules in order to be eligible to

receive the prize. Contestants may not resell, assign or transfer any of their rights in their

Submissions under these Official Rules.

CONTESTANTS WILL NOT BE PAID FOR THEIR SUBMISSIONS or for granting Sponsor any

of these rights.

11. PRIZES

Up to six people, one Winner in each Category (which may include one individual on a winning

team will be flown, coach class, to London, for a two night stay for two at a hotel of the Sponsor’s

choosing (standard room accommodations), to participate in the Final Round.

FIVE CATEGORY WINNER PRIZES:

Only one Grand Prize winner will be chosen. The remaining five (5) Category Prize Winners will

receive a cash award of $10,000.00.

ONE GRAND PRIZE:

One (1) Grand Prize Winner, chosen from among the Category Prize Winners, shall win the Grand

Prize of $50,000 cash, plus an opportunity to meet with and select venture capitalists and/or

industry professionals to discuss commercialization of their Submissions.

Prize values are based upon a $1500- average round trip value of an advanced purchase airfare from

the major international airport nearest winner’s address located in their original Submission, to

London (Winners must arrange for transportation to nearest airport); $350 per night for two for a

two night stay in a single room based upon double occupancy; and a per diem meal allowance of

$66.00/day per person). In the event air travel is impractical or the distance is less than 200 miles,

Sponsor may, at its sole discretion arrange for other method of transportation such as a limousine,

train or bus. Winners must arrange for the alternative type of transportation selected by the

Sponsor. Winner is not entitled to any difference in prize value for alternate transportation. There is

no value associated with the opportunity to meet venture capitalists and/or industry professionals.

The Winner (which may include one individual on a single winning team is responsible for all costs

related to the travel prize, including without limitation vaccinations, meals, ground transportation,

gratuities, incidental hotel expenses, excess baggage charges, upgrades and any and all federal,

state, and local taxes, including special airport taxes and fees, transportation to and from airport and

all other expenses not specified as part of prize package are the sole responsibility of prize winner.

Choice of airline(s), hotel(s), car rental and/or itineraries shall be at the discretion of Sponsor and/or

its prize suppliers. Once airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rental reservations and/or other

reservations have been issued, they shall not be changed, re-sold, endorsed, exchanged, transferred

or in any other manner modified by the Winners. Traveling winner have all necessary identification

and travel documents including valid passport, if applicable, and are responsible for all costs related

thereto. The Winners are responsible for obtaining travel insurance (and all other forms of

insurance) that they may wish to obtain (at their own expense) and hereby acknowledge that neither

Sponsor nor any of its prize suppliers have or will obtain or provide travel insurance or any other

form of insurance. If the Winners and potential guest are unable to participate in or accept the prize

or any portion of the prize for any reason, Sponsor shall have no further obligation to the Winner

and guest. Travel restrictions, conditions and limitations may apply, including but not limited to

holiday ‘blackout’ dates. Neither Sponsor nor any of its prize suppliers will replace any lost or

stolen tickets, travel vouchers or certificates. Any and all activities related to the prize, including

without limitation flying, are at the Winner and guest’s own risk and subject to whatever restrictions

are imposed by the entities that govern such activities. Winner must coordinate with Sponsor to

arrange travel and all expenses must be approved in advance. In the event that any portion of the

Prize is unavailable, either due to inability of Prize Winner to travel or due to the unpredictable

nature of the business world or for any other reason, remainder of prize will not be redeemable for

cash.

12. CONDITIONS

By entering this Contest, Contestants understand that their Submissions will be reviewed for

commercial viability and that Contestants are not eligible if they (1) are represented under any

contract that would limit or impair their ability to commercially exploit the Submissions; or (2) are

under any other contractual relationship, or employment agreement that might prohibit them from

participating fully in this Contest, or from allowing third parties to Contract with them to

commercially exploit the Submissions; or (3) at any time before or during the Contest, have

provided their Submission to any entity or third party for any purpose related to exploitation and/or

commercialization (including the possibility of commercialization) of the Submission. Sponsor

makes no guarantees, explicit or implied, regarding the outcome of any round or the guarantee of

any prize. Nothing in this Contest may be construed as an employment contract.

By participating in the Contest, Contestants agree: (i) to be bound by these complete Official Rules

and the decisions of Sponsor which shall be final and binding; and (ii) to waive any right to claim

ambiguity in the Contest or these Official Rules, except where prohibited by law. By accepting a

prize, Contestants agree to release Sponsor, including its parent, subsidiary and affiliated entities

together with the respective directors, employees, officers, licensees, licensors and agents, and

respective advertising and promotion entities and any person or entity associated with the

production, judging, or administration of the Contest, (collectively, the ‘Releases’) from any and all

liability, loss or damage arising from or in connection with awarding, receipt and/or use or misuse

of the prize or participation in any prize-related activities.

Contestants shall not take part (or agree to take part) in any media coverage, or make any press

releases or other announcements regarding participation in the Earth Awards without the prior

agreement of Sponsor. No Contestant shall refer to the Earth Awards or permit it to be referred to by

any third party for the purpose of promoting or publicizing any company or business other than

Sponsor.

As a condition of accepting any prize, each Prize Winner must sign and return a declaration of

eligibility, liability, and where lawful, publicity release, within the time period specified therein,

allowing Sponsor to use the Submission, name, likeness, hometown name, winning entry and/or

prize information of Finalist as part of that publicity throughout the world, without any

compensation or prior review unless specifically prohibited by law.

Travel dates and arrangements are subject to availability and as set forth by Sponsor.

Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or suspend the Contest, in its sole discretion, should it receive

fewer than 50 entries, or receive no entries that have a judged score above the states minimums in

these official rules, or due to circumstances beyond its control, including natural disasters. Sponsor

may, in its sole discretion, cancel, modify or suspend the Contest should a virus, bug, computer

problem, unauthorized intervention or other causes beyond Sponsor’s control, corrupt the

administration, security or proper play of the Contest. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from

participating in the Contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines such entrant is

attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, deception, or any other

unfair playing practices of intending to annoy, abuse, threaten, undermine or harass any other

players or Sponsor representatives. The internal laws of the State of California will govern disputes

regarding these Official Rules and/or this Contest. In the event that Sponsor cancels the Contest, all

entrants who have submitted a completed submission on or before the cancellation date, will receive

a $25.00 iTunes gift card or prize of equal of greater value.

CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE OR UNDERMINE THE

LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND

CIVIL LAWS AND WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE

CONTEST. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT

TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEY FEES) TO THE FULLEST

EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

13. PUBLICITY

Except where prohibited by applicable law, the Finalists’ entry and acceptance of any prize

constitutes permission to Sponsor to use their Submission, as well as such person’s or his or her

guest’s name, photograph, likeness (including non-photographic and simulated), statements,

biographical information, voice, and city and state address for any and all promotional or

advertising purposes in connection with this Contest and/or the Sponsor’s business operations and

product/service offerings, on a worldwide basis and in all forms of media, now or hereafter known,

in perpetuity, without review, permission or further compensation of any amount or kind

whatsoever.

14. PRIVACY

All personal information collected by Sponsor will be used for administration of the Contest and in

accordance with Sponsor’s privacy policy, which may include commercial email solicitation.

Sponsor makes commercially reasonable efforts to comply with the Federal CAN-SPAM Act and

entrants may subsequently opt-out of receiving further emails by following the opt-out instructions

contained in the email. Any questions regarding privacy matters should be directed to the address

set out below. Please refer to Sponsor’s privacy policy located at URL http://theearthawards.org/

privacy-policy for important information regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal

information by Sponsor.

15. WINNERS LIST

For Winner name(s) or Official Rules, log on to http://www.theearthawards.org/. Winner name(s)

and Official Rules will be available on the Web Site for 90 days after Winner(s) is finally

determined.

2010 NYC, Inc. All rights reserved.