A schoolchild that has Channel One in his or her school is told to go
to ChannelOne.com at least three times during the TV show. When the child
arrives at Channel One’s much-promoted site, the first thing they see is
a pop-up ad for the Cybiko company.
The Cybiko ad cannot be avoided. Channel One has programmed their site
to thrust this ad into children’s faces. Cybiko markets hand-held, Palm
Pilot-like, devices that allow young people to send emails without the
Internet.
The Cybiko ad is enticing. "Win a Free MP3 Player" it says and
once a child clicks on this ad, they are taken off Channel One’s site,
without warning to the child, and sent to Cybiko’s site. There the
Channel One advertiser asks for a child’s "full name, complete home
address, including zip code, home phone number with area code, and date
of birth."
In a more direct way, the current "NBA/Channel One NBA All-Star
Contest" shows how Channel One shakes kids down for personal information
on their own site.
When a child clicks on "Sports" the first Channel One sports
news story reads:
"Win an All-Star Weekend!
Want a once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend NBA All-Star Weekend — and
report on it for Channel One News and Inside Stuff magazine? Here’s your
chance… More »"
Clicking on "Win an All-Star Weekend" sends the child to a Channel
One page that reads:
"Want a once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend NBA All-Star Weekend
— and report on it for Channel One News and Inside Stuff magazine? Here’s
your chance… Answer the question below in 100 words or less. The person
with the most creative and best written response will receive two All-Star
Passes to NBA All-Star Weekend Feb. 8 to 10 in Philadelphia, plus travel
and accommodations for you and a chaperone. And… that’s not all… your
written coverage of the event will be featured in Inside Stuff magazine.
Runners up will receive a one-year subscription to "Inside Stuff" magazine.
Ready for your question? We want to hear something really creative!
What makes you best qualified to get the "inside stuff" from
the NBA All-Stars for Channel One News?
After you enter, be sure to vote for your favorite NBA All Stars at NBA.com!
Before submitting any personal information, please review our privacy
policy.
Click Here for Official Rules"
After clicking in their birth date, the contest is officially open only
to children 13 and older, the child is asked for their first and last name,
the name of their school, their grade level at school, and their email
address, which they want the child to enter twice to make sure it has no
errors. Then they write their essay on why they should win the tickets
to the NBA All-Star game.
This request for personal information comes from Channel One on their
site. Notice in the "Official Rules" that the NBA is
NOT the sponsor of this contest, but Channel One IS. This is just
one of several contests that have run in the past few months.
Jim Metrock, Obligation president, said, "Channel One’s pursuit of
personal information is much more aggressive this school year. I
have followed this company for six years and what they are doing is very
disturbing. Just recently, they used a contest featuring the singer Jewel
to get information from children. Parents should be very uncomfortable
with Channel One."
Here are the official rules:
"CHANNEL ONE NEWS AND NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND ESSAY
CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR
CHANCE OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. YOU MUST BE 13 YEARS OF AGE
TO ENTER THE CONTEST ONLINE.
Eligibility: 1. Eligibility: Entrant must be between 13-18
years of age and a legal resident of the 48 contiguous United States
and the District of Columbia as of November 19, 2001. Employees of National
Basketball Association and Channel One News ("Sponsor") and
their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion
agencies and their family members and/or those living in the same household
are not eligible to enter.
Timing: Contest begins at 6:00 p.m. PST on Monday, November
19, 2001 and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on Tuesday, January 8, 2002.
How to Enter: Enter the ‘Channel One News and NBA
All-Star Weekend Contest’ by submitting an essay of 100 words or less about
the stated contest question What makes you best qualified to get the "inside
stuff" from the NBA All-Stars for Channel One News? Your entry must
be your own original creation. Submit your entry by going to www.ChannelOne.com
and entering via the Channel One News and NBA All-Star Weekend Contest
link. Entries must be received by January 8, 2002, 11:59 p.m. PST. Multiple
entries are not permitted. More than one entry from any person or e-mail
address will void all entries from that person or e-mail address.
Judging Criteria: Each entrant selected as a potential
winner must comply with all terms and conditions set forth in these Official
Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all such requirements.
The prize winners will be selected by creativity, originality and adherance
to the stated contest question in equal measure. The contest will take
place under the supervision of the Sponsor. Participants agree to be
bound by these rules and the decision of the judges, whose decisions
are final and binding in all matters related to this contest. Ten (10)
entries will be chosen as semi-finalists by the editor of ‘Inside Stuff’
Magazine on or about January 16, 2002. A panel of judges comprised of
Channel One Network, the NBA, and ‘Inside Stuff’ Magazine will select
one (1) finalist from among the ten (10) semi-finalists selected to be
the grand-prize winner. The finalist will be notified on or about January
18, 2002.
Prizes: The following prizes will be awarded:
Entry deadline: January 8, 2002
Prize: Ten (10) semi-finalists will each receive a one-year
subscription (total of 6 issues) to ‘Inside Stuff’ Magazine.
Approximate Retail Value: $210.00
Grand Prize: One (1) grand-prize winner will receive two
(2) passes to attend certain events chosen at the sole discretion of
sponsor at the NBA All-Star Weekend in Philadelphia, PA. (Winners under
18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian). Prize
package includes round-trip coach airfare for two (2) from airport nearest
winner’s city determined by Channel One Network, to Philadelphia, PA
(within the 48 contiguous states), one (1) hotel room for two (2) nights
(and related hotel and airport taxes), and round-trip transportation
from winner’s home to airport, and round-trip transportation from Philadelphia
airport to hotel. (Transportation within Philadelphia, meals, telephone
charges and other incidentals are responsibility of the winner). The
grand prize winner will have the opportunity to write an article based
on their experience at the All-Star Weekend to be featured in ‘Inside
Stuff’ Magazine (issue date TBD).
PASSES MAY ONLY ALLOW ACCESS TO CERTAIN EVENTS. RESTRICTIONS
MAY APPLY.
Approximate Retail Value: $3,640.00
Total Number of prizes: 11
Total Approximate Retail Value of All Prizes: $3,850.00.
Sponsor is not responsible for lost or mutilated prizes and none will
be replaced. Prize is nontransferable and must be accepted as awarded.
No cash or other substitution may be made, except by the Sponsor in the
event that the prize cannot be awarded for any reason, in which case,
Sponsor will award a prize of equal or greater value. All taxes, fees
and surcharges on prizes are the sole responsibility of winner.
Other Terms and Conditions: Potential winners will be
required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability Release,
and where lawful a Publicity Release, within seven (7) days of notification,
failing which the potential winner will be disqualified and another winner
selected in the place of the disqualified person from the semi-finalist
entries. If any prize or prize notification is returned as non-deliverable,
the potential winner will be disqualified and another potential winner
will be selected in the original winner’s place. By accepting prize,
the winner agrees that the Sponsor will have the right to photograph
the selected entrant. Entry constitutes permission to use the entrant’s
name, picture, likeness, school and city and state of residence for purposes
of trade, publicity or promotion for no additional compensation. All
entries must be original, must not have won previous awards and must
not infringe on any third party rights. Submission of entry constitutes
consent of entrants and their parents/legal guardians to irrevocably
assign to the Sponsor all rights in the entry, including but not limited
to, intellectual property rights. Submission of an entry grants Sponsor
and its agents the right to publish, produce, use, adapt, edit and/or
modify the entry in any way and in any and all media, without limitation
and without compensation to the entrant, or their parents/legal guardians.
By submitting entries to the contest, the sender grants permission for
the Sponsor to use his/her first name, age and state of residence on
ChannelOne.com. No personally identifiable information from children
under 13 will be posted online. Entries with the following inappropriate
content will not be considered: lewd, foul or obscene language or depictions;
the promotion or solicitation of illegal activity; or speech that demeans
or defames a person or group on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity,
religious affiliation or national origin. The selected entrant and their
parent/legal guardian will be required to execute an affidavit of eligibility,
compliance with contest rules and release of liability/publicity, where
legal.
All entrants release the Sponsor, its affiliates, parents,
subsidiaries, directors, officers, employees and agents, and all others
associated with the development and execution of this contest from any
and all liability for injury, loss or damage of any kind resulting from
participation in this contest. Sponsor’s decisions relating to all aspects
of this contest are final.
Miscellaneous: All entries become the sole property of
Sponsor and none will be returned. In the event of a dispute, entries
made by Internet will be deemed made by the authorized account holder
of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. The "authorized
account holder" is deemed the natural person who is assigned to
an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, service provider or
other online organization that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses
for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. A potential
winner may be requested to provide Sponsor with proof that the potential
winner is the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated
with the winning entry. If for any reason the Contest is not capable
of running as planned, including due to infection by computer virus,
bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failure,
human error or any other cases beyond the control of Sponsor that corrupt
or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper
conduct of the Contest, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion,
to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and
to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest. Sponsor assumes
no responsibility for any error, omission, failure, theft or destruction
or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries. The telephone network
or lines, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment,
software, failure of any e-mail or entry to be received by Sponsor on
account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or
at any web site, any combination thereof, or otherwise, including any
injury or damage to entrant’s or any other person’s computer related
to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in the
Contest. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any computer, online or
technical malfunctions that may occur or for any lost, late, misdirected,
illegible, postage-due or mutilated mail. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN
ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGIMATE
OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS
AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK
DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
Winners’ List: A complete list of winners will be available
after January 18, 2001 by sending a stamped self-addressed envelope to
ChannelOne.com/NBA All-Star Weekend Contest, 1440 Broadway, 17th Floor,
New York, New York 10018.
Sponsor: The Sponsor of this Contest is Channel One Network
whose address is 1440 Broadway, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10018."
