Hitachi StarBoard® Summer School Contest

Share your original educational lessons and activities for a chance to win high quality Hitachi home electronics

OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.

ELIGIBILITY

This Sweepstakes is only open and offered to natural persons who are, as of the date of announcement of winners, an employed classroom teacher in grades K-12 in an established public or private school in the 50 United States and other U.S. territories and possessions (Excluding Puerto Rico).

Employees or agents of Hitachi Software Engineering America, Ltd, (HISAL) and their respective parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising/promotional agencies, and members of their immediate families or those persons living in the same household of such individuals are ineligible to enter or win. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited by law. Sweepstakes is governed by U.S. laws and is subject to all federal, state and local laws. Sweepstakes is void where prohibited by law. By participating in the sweepstakes, entrants agree to be bound by the Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, which shall be final and binding in all respect with regard to judging and the administration of the sweepstakes, and to release the Sponsor, its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, agents and employees from any and all liability, claims or damages arising out of their participation in the sweepstakes, the use of any submissions as stated herein and the acceptance and use of any prize.

DURATION/HOW TO ENTER

Sweepstakes begins 7/15/2007 at 8:30 am and ends 10/31/2007 at 11:59 pm. For purposes of these official rules, all times are Pacific Standard Time (PST).

You may enter the sweepstakes by accessing the online StarBoard educators’ resource center at www.hitachi-soft.com. Click upload and fill out the upload form in its entirety, attach the your entry file(defined below), and click upload; include a title, grade levels, subject, and lessons objectives on the first sheet or slide of the activity.

Your entry file will be your most productive educational activities, lessons, and worksheets in the following formats:

or sharing a link to your favorite educational website and writing a testimonial about our products.

ENTRY CONDITIONS

The Companies assume no responsibility for lost, late, damaged, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, illegible, unreadable or returned entries; or for any computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, electronic or Internet, hardware or software malfunctions or failures, or garbled, corrupt or jumbled transmissions, or service provider/Internet/web site/usenet accessibility or availability, traffic congestion, technical failures, or unauthorized human intervention, or the incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry or other information or the failure to capture such information. In case of dispute, entries will be declared made by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry. As used herein, “authorized account holder” is defined as the natural person to whom an email address is assigned by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) which is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with such assigned e-mail address. If a dispute cannot be resolved, the entry will be deemed ineligible.

By entering, each entrant licenses all rights to the content of his/her entry and the expression of ideas/concepts embodied therein to HISAL. The entrant unconditionally assigns and transfers to HISAL all rights, title, interest and claim, which it now has or may in the future have to the entries or any element(s) therein including, without limitation, the copyright therein. HISAL shall have the right to modify, use, assign or dispose of such entries however they see fit without approval of entrants or any third party.

Multiple entries will be accepted so long as each is a separate entry, is considerably different (HISAL shall have the sole discretion to determine what is “considerably different”), and meets all entry requirements. Entry must be the original work of the entrant and must be owned by the entrant. The entry must not have been submitted in any other competition or previously published. Modifying, enhancing or altering a third party's pre-existing work may not be used and will not qualify as an entry to sweepstakes. Entry must be in keeping with HISAL's image and may not be offensive, as determined by HISAL at its sole discretion, nor can it defame or invade publicity rights or privacy rights of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person's personal or proprietary rights. Any entrant whose work includes any likeness of third parties or contains elements not owned by the entrant (such as, but not limited to depictions of buildings, trademarks or logos) must be able to provide legal releases for such use, including legal release for HISAL’s use of such entry, in a form satisfactory to HISAL.

Entrants grant HISAL the right to use their names, images, likenesses, photographs, voices and biographical materials, and submissions, for advertising, publicity and promotion purposes including posting the Entries online for judging purposes or any other purpose or on a winner's list and other online announcements, and for sharing the Entries with the local press for viewing, whether TV or print, without additional compensation, unless prohibited by law. Neither entrants nor winners shall receive any compensation or credit for use of entries, other than that disclosed in rules. U.S. law governs the Sweepstakes. Online entries will be deemed made by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at time of entry.

JUDGING:

All entries will be judged by a panel of individuals under the supervision of HISAL based on the following criteria (the "Judging Criteria"): Interactivity (30%), Educational Quality (30%), Creativity (10%), Presentation (20%), and Multiple Lessons Submitted (10%). The 10 finalists with the highest scores will be determined on or about 11/05/07. If multiple entrants submit duplicate or similar files, only the first entry submitted will be considered. In the event of a tie, the entries involved in the tie are subject to review by an additional judge who will serve as a tiebreaker and who will evaluate entries according to criteria listed above. Decisions of judges are final and binding on all matters relating to this Sweepstakes. Becoming a Finalist is subject to validation and verification of eligibility and compliance with all terms and conditions set forth in these Official Rules.

PRIZES/WINNER NOTIFICATION:

Ten (10) winners will be determined from among all eligible entries during the Entry Period.

First Place: One (1) winner Hitachi 50” P50H401 Plasma Television.
Second Place: One (1) winner Hitachi 42” P42H401 Plasma Television.
Third Place: Three (3) winners Hitachi Hybrid 8GB DZHS200 camcorder.
Fourth Place: Five (5) winners Hitachi StarBoard BT2G Wireless Table.

No alternative prize, transfer, cash redemption or substitution is permitted, but HISAL reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value should any prize become unavailable. All applicable taxes are the sole responsibility of winners.

Winners will be notified on or about 11/15/2007, by email and/or telephone or overnight mail. It is the sole responsibility of each Contestant to maintain his/her contact information as current. The Companies are not responsible for and shall not be liable for late, lost, misdirected, or unsuccessful efforts to notify winners. Each winner will be required to complete, execute and return an affidavit of eligibility, a liability release and, where lawful, a publicity release within 7 days of the date on documents. If documents or prize is returned as non-deliverable, or if documents are not returned timely, or if winner is found to be ineligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules, disqualification will result and the prize awarded to an alternate winner.

DISQUALIFICATION:

Any attempt by an entrant or any other individual to deliberately damage any online service or web site, tamper with the voting process, or undermine the legitimate operation of the sweepstakes is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, HISAL reserves the right to seek damages and/or other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. If for any reason the Sweepstakes is not capable of being executed as planned, or infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, action of entrants, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of HISAL, corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this sweepstakes, HISAL reserves the right at their sole discretion to disqualify any entry or entrant and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Sweepstakes and/or award the prizes from among all eligible entries received as of the date of the termination, as HISAL determines in their sole discretion. Entries not complying with all rules are subject to disqualification. No correspondence regarding entries will be entered into with entrants.

DISPUTES:

Except where prohibited, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and HISAL in connection with the Sweepstakes, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of California, or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of California.

GENERAL CONDITIONS:

By entering this Sweepstakes, each Contestant releases and agrees to hold harmless HISAL and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, advertising and promotion agencies, including their respective officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents from any and all liabilities, losses, claims, damages and action of any kind in connection with this Sweepstakes or arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, use or misuse of a prize, participation in any Sweepstakes related activity, or participation in this Sweepstakes including but not limited to, personal injury, death, property damage, and claims based on upon publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy.

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

HISAL is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by web site users, tampering, hacking, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this Sweepstakes and HISAL does not assume responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, technical error, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to the web site. HISAL reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any Entrant it finds, in its sole discretion, to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of this Sweepstakes or web site, to be acting in violation of the Official Rules; or to be acting in a disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person. HISAL is not responsible for injury or damage to Entrant’s or to any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participating in this Sweepstakes or downloading materials from or use of the web site. IN NO EVENT WILL HISAL OR ITS RESPECTIVE PARENT, AFFILIATES, AND RELATED COMPANIES, DIVISIONS OR THEIR ADVERTISING OR PROMOTIONAL AGENCIES OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES AND AGENTS, BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF ANY INTERNET SITE(S) OR THE DOWNLOADING FROM AND/OR PRINTING MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM ANY SITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, EVERYTHING ON THIS SITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS FOR ANY RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS REGARDING THESE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS.

WINNERS LIST:

For the name of the winners, available after 11/30/07, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope by 11/15/07 to: Hitachi Software Engineering America, Ltd. 900 Hitachi Way Chula Vista, CA 91914-3556