MUST BE A U.S. CITIZEN or a U.S. STUDENT VISA HOLDER, OVER 18 YEARS OLD AND ENROLLED IN UNIVERSITY IN THE U.S. TO ENTER. Participation constitutes entrant's full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules. The Center for International Disaster (CIDI) Public Service Announcement Contest ("Contest") commences on January 16, 2007 and the submission deadline is April 2, 2007 (“Contest Period”). Contest is sponsored by the Center for International Disaster Information (“CIDI” or “Sponsor”) by generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development. CIDI is headquartered at Heartlands International, Inc. 4100 N. Fairfax Drive, #302, Arlington, VA 22203.

(1) Eligibility:

Contest is offered only to natural persons older than 18 years of age as of the date of entry, who are university students, who are US citizens, or international students holding valid, current student visas. Students whose education is either sponsored or funded by the United States Agency for International Development may not enter. Residents of Vermont may not enter. Employees, independent contractors, officers, and directors of Sponsor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors, and the immediate family members and persons living in the same household of such persons, are not eligible to participate in the Contest. Contest offered only in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia. Void in Vermont and where prohibited by law.

Create your own television broadcast public service announcement (“PSA”) to discuss current issues and important topics regarding appropriate humanitarian aid or relief from the general public for international disasters. The PSA should discourage in-kind donations and encourage monetary assistance to established, recognized international disaster relief agencies by effectively communicating this to the general public in an informative, memorable, and creative way. To enter on-line, access the PSAid Web site at www.PSAID.org, upload your PSA announcement entry (“Entry”), and complete the contest registration forms between 8:00am EST on January 29, 2007 and 11:59pm EDST on April 2, 2007.

To enter by mail, mail your Entry on a DVD in Apple Quicktime and Windows Media Format format and completed official contest registration form to Molly Williams, CIDI Contest Coordinator, 607 14thStreet, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20005 between January 29, 2007 and April 2, 2007. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by April 2, 2007. Your Entry materials may designate how you would like your attribution to appear with your posted Entry (e.g., "Mary Smith, Chicago, IL," "M. Smith, Chicago, IL," or "Mary S., Chicago, IL"). Entries may be in any form of moving image, including but not limited to, video, animation, text and audio in DVD format. Duration of entry cannot exceed 30 seconds. Both audio/visual and visual only entries are permitted. Limit one entry per person - multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified. Entries will not be acknowledged or returned.

By submitting an entry, entrant warrants that he/she is the sole author and copyright owner of entry or has permission (via license or otherwise) to use or incorporate those entry portions authored or owned by third parties. Entries may not have been entered into any other contest or won any other award. Use of images, music, and other works in the public domain may be incorporated into entries. However, materials that infringe on the rights of any third party may not be used. The Center for International Disaster Information is not responsible for late, lost, delayed, garbled, damaged, misdirected, postage-due, incomplete, illegible, or unintelligible entries. Incomplete or illegible entries are not eligible. This PSA announcement is to educate the general public on why monetary donations are the best type of humanitarian aid or relief assistance that can be provided by the public after an international disaster.

A link to the contest registration form will be available on the Center for International Disaster Information Web site throughout the entry submission period (January 29, 2007 to April 2, 2007). Entrant must sign the Certification and Release included in the contest registration materials and grant to Sponsor a nonexclusive license to copy, reproduce, display, or distribute the entry, and to make derivative works based upon the entry or a substantial portion of the entry without attribution or prior permission. Entries become the property of the Center for International Disaster Information and will not be acknowledged or returned.

By submitting an entry, Entrant grants to USAID a nonexclusive, irrevocable license to copy, reproduce, display, or distribute the entry, and to make derivative works based upon the entry or a substantial portion of the entry without attribution or prior permission. Entries become the property of USAID and will not be acknowledged or returned.

(3) Prize:

Cash prizes total $20,000. The grand finalist will receive $12,000; second- and third-place winners will receive $5,000 and $3,000 respectively. The winning entries, or derivative work of said entries, will be used in national distribution to major television networks, cable channels, and the Center for International Disaster Information Web site: www.CIDI.org

(4) Winner(s):

CIDI and USAID/OFDA staff will select the five semi-finalists entries from all eligible submissions by April 11, 2007. Judges will base their selections of PSA semi-finalists on the following criteria (“Judges Voting”)

1) Overall Impact (educational, informational, and persuasive) (weighted 20%);

2) Originality (concepts/ideas/format) (weighted 20%);

3) Memorable Content and Delivery (weighted 20%); and

4) Clear Message (weighted 20%).

Five semi-finalists will be announced on or about April 13, 2007. The five semi-finalists entries will then be voted on by the general public through the PSAid Web site based on public appeal (20%) (“Public Voting”). The winner will be the entrant with the highest number of total points [Judges Voting (80%) and Public Voting (20%) = 100%].

Public voting will be conducted between April 13, 2007 and April 20, 2007 (“Public Voting Period”). If there is a tie in one of the categories, the highest score in the Overall Impact category will determine winner.

For public votes, there may be only one vote per person, per active email address. Individual votes from on-line votes that are either fraudulently generated or duplicated, or associated with inactive or "dummy" e-mail addresses, are subject to disqualification. CIDI will tabulate all online votes and shall announce the top three entries (the "1st, 2nd and 3rd place Winners") to the public on the PSAid Web site. The online voting period ends at 11:59 pm EDST on April 20, 2007. The top prize winner will be announced on or about April 23, 2007.

Judges' decisions are final. The CIDI reserves the right to disqualify and remove any entry which is, in the judging panel's discretion, inappropriate, offensive, defamatory, or demeaning to the CIDI’s reputation or goodwill, or any entrant who, in the judging panel's discretion, engages in conduct that is inappropriate, offensive, defamatory, or demeaning to the CIDI’s reputation or goodwill or to other entrants or their respective entries. Winner will be notified by e-mail, express mail and/or phone on or about April 23, 2007 and shall be required to complete an affidavit or declaration of eligibility/liability release and, except where prohibited, a publicity release and such other documents as may be required by the Center for International Disaster Information to protect its right to air and use the winning entry. Required documents must be signed and received within 7 days of the date printed on the prize notification. Failure to comply or return of any prize notification as undeliverable may result in forfeiture of prize and selection of the next highest score entrant as the winner. A parent or guardian of a winner not of the age of majority in state of residence will be required to ratify and sign required documents. If winner cannot be contacted within five (5) calendar days of first notification attempt, if prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, if winner rejects his/her prize or in the event of noncompliance with these Contest rules and requirements, such prize will be forfeited and selection of the next highest score entrant as the winner. Upon prize forfeiture, no compensation will be given.

Accepting the prize constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use winner's Entry, name, hometown (including state) and/or likeness for promotional purposes without further compensation. Prize(s) is non-transferable and may not be substituted for another prize, except CIDI may award prize of equal or greater value if prize becomes unavailable for whatever reason. All taxes and unspecified expenses are the responsibility of winner.

(5) General Terms and Conditions:

By participating, entrants agree that Sponsor, its shareholders, agents and representatives, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors are not responsible or liable for, and shall be released and held harmless from: (i) telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, or difficulties of any kind; (ii) any condition caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor that may cause the Contest to be disrupted or corrupted; (iii) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest; (iv) any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind in connection with or resulting from participation in the Contest, or acceptance of the prize, including without limitation, claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy. Sponsor, its shareholders, agents and representatives, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors are not responsible for technical, hardware, software, telephone or other communications malfunctions, errors or failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, web site, Internet, or ISP availability, unauthorized human intervention, traffic congestion, incomplete or inaccurate capture of entry information (regardless of cause) or failed, incomplete, garbled, jumbled or delayed computer transmissions which may limit one’s ability to enter the Contest, including any injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading any materials in this Contest. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, extend, or suspend the Contest should (in its sole discretion) computer virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud, or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, or proper conduct of the Contest. In such case, judges will select the winners from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds, in its sole discretion, to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or the CIDI's Web site. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of participant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Virginia, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions (whether of the State of Virginia or any other jurisdiction), that would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Virginia. All federal, state and local rules and regulations apply. In case of dispute as to the identity of any entrant, Entry will be declared made by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at time of entry. “Authorized Account Holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization (e.g., business, educational, institution, etc.) responsible for assigning email addresses or the domain associated with the submitted email address. Any potential winner may be requested to provide Sponsor with proof that such winner is the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the winning entry. Any other attempted form of entry is prohibited; no automatic, programmed; robotic or similar means of entry are permitted.

(6) Winners List/Official Rules:

A copy of these official rules and a winners list may be obtained by sending an email request to [email protected], or by fax request (202) 337-3538. Requests for winners list must be received by May 31, 2007.

(7) Privacy Policy:

See the Center for International Disaster Information Privacy Policy regarding use of all material entered and/or submitted for this Contest or otherwise collected by this site, except as otherwise provided in these Official Rules.

(8) DMCA Notice:

The Center for International Disaster Information complies with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In compliance with the DMCA, a Designated Agent has been established with proper documentation sent to the US Copyright Office.

DMCA Claims

The DMCA specifies that all infringement claims must be in writing (either electronic mail or paper letter) and must include the following:

• A physical or electronic signature of the copyright holder or a person authorized to act on his or her behalf;

• A description of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;

• A description of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;

• Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address;

• A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

• A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.