Terms of service.

We're not creepy. We hope you're not either. Below you'll find what we expect from you, and what you can expect from us.

By agreeing to our terms of service when you created your account, and when using this website, you are bound by the terms below:

You shouldn't give your password to anyone. We promise to keep it secure on our end, but it's up to you to keep it to yourself.
The Great Destinations NJ website is intended for limited personal use for the purpose of creating a book and DVD. We are not an image hosting service, and cannot be relied upon as such. Your photos are hosted here on an expiring basis. Once the project is finished, we will remove all your photos from the Great Destinations NJ website.
You may not use the Great Destinations NJ website for any illegal or unauthorized purpose. You agree to abide by all laws in your jurisdiction (including but not limited to copyright laws). Bottom line: don't break laws here.
Don't be a jerk. You must not abuse, harass, threaten, impersonate or intimidate other Great Destinations NJ members.
You are responsible for any activity that occurs under your screen name. You, and you alone, are responsible for your conduct and any data, text, screen names, photos, profiles, comments, and links that you submit, post, and display on the Great Destinations NJ website.

You must not modify, adapt or hack Great Destinations NJ website or modify another website so as to falsely imply that it is associated with Great Destinations NJ.
Do you like spam? We didn't think so. Don't spread it around. You must not create or submit unwanted email to any Great Destinations NJ website members.

Violation of any of these agreements will result in the termination of your Great Destinations NJ account. While The Star-Ledger prohibits such conduct and content on its site, you understand and agree that The Star-Ledger cannot be responsible for the content posted on its website and you may be exposed to such materials. You use the Great Destinations NJ website at your own risk.

Our legal department says we must post the official rules in all of its legal-jargon glory. So, here's the official stuff:

Official Contest Rules: NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS CONTEST. Contest open to legal residents of the fifty United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older as of the date of entry. Employees and their immediate families of Sponsors are not eligible.

To qualify, participants must enter a photograph in one of the 8 contest categories: Gateway (Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Middlesex, Union, Hudson counties); Skylands (Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon counties); Delaware River (Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem counties); Shore (Monmouth, Ocean counties); Southern Shore (Cumberland, Cape May counties); Atlantic County, NJ Friends and Family, Everyday NJ Life. All entries must be the original work of the entrant and not infringe the rights of any third party. Photographs featuring the intellectual property of others (e.g., a sign containing a registered trademark) will not be accepted. Digital entries only will be accepted. Digital entries can be submitted at http://www.greatdestinationsnj.com/. Digital files must be sent in JPEG and not exceed 10 Megs, compressed. TIFFs or any other format will not be accepted.

Each entry must include the title of the photo and category of submission, as well as the photographer's full name and e-mail address. Contest begins Tuesday, July, 1, 2008 and ends 11:59 p.m. Monday, August 31, 2008 when all entries must be received. Sponsors are not responsible for lost, late, damaged, illegible, incomplete, incorrect or misdirected entries/votes. Entries/votes that are garbled, or incompletely received, for any reason, including by reason of hardware, software, browser, or network failure, malfunction, congestion, or incompatibility at Sponsors' servers or elsewhere, will not be eligible. Sponsors, in their sole discretion, reserve the right to disqualify any person tampering with the entry/voting process or the operation of the web site. Use of bots or other automated process to enter/vote is prohibited and may result in disqualification at the sole discretion of Sponsors.

Sponsors further reserve the right to cancel, terminate or modify any promotion not capable of completion as planned, including by reason of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, force majeure or technical failures of any sort. In the event of a dispute, entries/votes will be deemed submitted by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry/vote. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet Access Provider, online service provider, or other organization (e.g., business, educational institute) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address.

Entries will be posted on line at www.greatdestinationsnj.com and the public will be asked to vote for their favorite in each category. The one entry in each of the eight categories with the highest vote score at 11:59 PM ET July 31, 2008 and 11:59 PM ET September 7, 2008 will be declared potential winners. NOTE: voting will be restricted to one vote per person, per household, per email address, per photo. Vote scores are determined using a proprietary algorithm which accounts for the time that a photo has been available for voting, the number of Dig It? votes versus Nix It? votes, and other factors. The potential winner will be determined within ten (10) business days after voting is completed. The prize is a $1,000 gift card to PC Richard & Son (may be subject to certain restrictions including expiration date). Monthly winners will be announced in The Star-Ledger by category.

In addition, all entries will be judged on or about September 8, 2008 (the "Judging Date") by a panel of judges comprised of professional photographers. The judges will score entries based on the following criteria: lighting, (25%),creativity (25%), composition (25%) and content (25%)The entry with highest overall score will be declared the potential grand prize winner (in the event of a tie, the entry with the higher score in the creativity criteria will prevail). Monthly winners and grand prize winner will be notified by mail, email and/or telephone. If a potential winner cannot be contacted , does not respond within three (3) days from the date the Sponsor first tries to notify him/her, and/or the prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, such potential winner forfeits all rights to win the Promotion or receive the prize, and an alternate potential winner may be selected. Upon contacting a potential winner and determining that he/she has met all eligibility requirements of the Promotion, including without limitation the execution of required waivers, publicity and liability releases and disclaimers, such individual will be declared the "winner" of the Promotion.

The Grand Prize is one (1) DSLR digital camera, one (1) digital photo frame, one (1) 32" Flat LCD HDTV, one (1) 8GB memory stick, and one (1) Theater Grill Gift Certificate (may be subject to certain restrictions including expiration date. The approximate retail value of the prize package is $2,766.97.

Income and other taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winner. Subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Any violation of these rules may result in disqualification.

Sponsors are not responsible for errors in the administration or fulfillment of this contest, including without limitation mechanical, human, printing, distribution or production errors, and may modify or cancel this promotion based upon such error at its sole discretion without liability.

The copyright in any Submission shall remain the property of the entrant, but by entering the Contest, each contestant grants to Host and to Sponsors a non-exclusive, royalty-free and irrevocable right and license to use the contestant's submitted photo, in whole or in part, on www.greatdestinationsnj.com?, in the "Great Destinations NJ?" book, in the "Great Destinations NJ?" DVD, and in connection with promoting the Contest and the "Great Destinations NJ?" book. The compensation to the photographer/owner for this license is publication in the Great Destinations NJ? book and DVD, and the unbridled fame and publicity which go with it (and from the Great Destinations NJ? website).Sponsor and/or others authorized by the Sponsor shall have the right to edit, adapt, and modify the Submission.

Prizes are not transferable. No substitution for prizes except by sponsors, in which case a prize of equal or greater value will be substituted. No duplicate monthly prize winner's.

Each entrant is only eligible for a single award per category. Entry into the contest constitutes consent to reproduce entrant's name, photo, and/or likeness for editorial, advertising, or publicity purposes of the contest, subsequent book or with New Jersey's Department of Travel and Tourism without further compensation (except where prohibited). Potential winners may be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility (including social security number) and liability/publicity/copyright permission release. Affidavits and releases must be returned within three (3) days of attempted notification or an alternate winner may be chosen. For winners' list, mail a self-addressed stamped envelope to The Star-Ledger Photo Contest Winners List, PO Box 20457, Newark, NJ 07101 after September 8, 2008 but before December 31, 2008. Sponsors of this contest are The Star-Ledger, PO BOX 20457, Newark, NJ 07101; NJ.com, 30 Journal Square, Jersey City, NJ 07306; The New Jersey Division of Travel & Tourism, P.O. BOX 460, Trenton, NJ 08625 and PC Richard & Sons, 243 State Route 10, Whippany, NJ. The Host of this contest is The Pediment Group, Inc., 901 SW 1st Street, Battle Ground, WA 98604.

We encourage you to read a bit more about your rights.

What you can expect from us:

We will not give out your personal information to anyone, ever.

Your correct email address is required when you register. This is to ensure everyone has one unique user, and is able to sign up only once. Your email address may be used to send you communication about your submission and/or the book, but will not be used for any third-party promotional material. Your email address is never made public on our website. This is to ensure you don't receive any unsolicited email from companies who have robots scouring the internet looking for email addresses.

Your first and last name is required when you register. This is so we can correctly attribute the photos you submit in the book, on the DVD, and where your photos appear on the website. More on attribution here. Again, we will not use your name for any third-party promotion.

Your IP address is reported by your browser when you register, and recorded in our database. We record this for the purpose of ensuring a fair vote. We take a close look at votes throughout the project. Having each user's IP address means we can be sure a malicious user isn't skewing the vote. Your IP address will never be linked to your name, username, or email address publicly. In fact, we will never make any IP addresses public.

We store a unique cookie given to us by your browser. This cookie does not pass any confidential information to us. We use this cookies system to keep you logged in across all pages. The cookie also let's us know how you'd like the site to be viewed (e.g. thumbnail sizes, etc.). If your browser rejects cookies, you will not be able to login or store site preferences.

We won't share your user details with anyone, unless we are compelled to by subpoenas, warrants, etc. It may be necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities, including without limitation, fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of our terms of use, or as otherwise permitted or required by law. We may share generic demographic information with business partners, but no personally identifiable information will ever be used without your permission.

You can change your profile information at any time, but you must not misrepresent yourself at any time.

We may send you certain communications relating to the Great Destinations NJ service, such as service announcements and administrative messages, that are considered part of your account.

You can delete your entire account at any time by contacting us; however, please note that your information will be gone for good.

In certain areas, we use SSL-encryption to protect data transmissions, including purchasing Great Destinations NJ.

General conditions:

We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time.
We reserve the right to modify or terminate your Great Destinations NJ account for any reason, without notice, at any time.
We may, but have no obligation to, remove content and accounts containing content that we determine in our sole discretion are unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party's intellectual property or these Terms of Service.
We reserve the right to alter these Terms of Service at any time. If the alterations constitute a material change to the Terms of Service, we will notify you. What constitutes a "material change" will be determined at our sole discretion, in good faith and using common sense and reasonable judgement.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.