EY GDS Hackpions 2.0

1. Introduction

These are the official rules of EY GDS Hackpions 2.0 (Hackathon), being conducted by HackerEarth Technologies Private Limited (HackerEarth), on behalf of EYGBS (India) LLP (also EY GDS). Your participation in the Hackathon constitutes your acceptance of these rules. By accepting these rules, you are entering into a binding agreement with EYGBS (India) LLP. The Hackathon is sponsored by EYGBS (India) LLP, hereby known as the “Hackathon organizer,” and is hosted by HackerEarth Technologies Private Limited. In addition to these rules, read and provide your consent to HackerEarth’s terms of service and privacy policy.

2. Definitions

1. The name of this Hackathon is: EY GDS Hackpions 2.0   
2. The Hackathon’s organizer is: EY GDS
3. The Hackathon website link is: https://www.hackerearth.com/challenges/hackathon/hackpions-2-ey-gds-hackathon/
4. The maximum team size is: three. This is the maximum number of participants that can be in one team.
5. The participants are: Non-EY individuals who have registered for the Hackathon, including every team member, for the Hackathon.
6. The mentors are: EY GDS employees who have registered on the Hackathon microsite and are selected to provide EY specific business and technical knowledge, to non-EY individuals.
7. The privacy policy: comprises of legal documents, that describe how HackerEarth gathers and manages your data.
8. The submission is: a set of solutions in the form of an idea or prototype that you submit for the problem statement of the Hackathon.
9. The team is: a group of participants, who will participate collectively in the Hackathon.
10. The terms of service are: rules that you must follow while using HackerEarth’s services
11. The website is: www.hackerearth.com which is HackerEarth’s platform, where you must sign up to be able to participate in the Hackathon.
12. The virtual quarter-finale is: a stage in which Hackathon organizers assess the first level of prototype solutions, submitted by a few invited participants, hereby known as the shortlisted quarter finalists, through offline internal screening or a virtual presentation. 
13. The shortlisted quarter finalists are: individuals or teams, whose prototype solutions are selected for assessment by the Hackathon organizer, during the quarter finale.
14. The virtual semi-finale will: last for one day, as selected by the Hackathon organizer, where a few invited participants, hereby known as Shortlisted Semi Finalists, present their refined solutions to the Hackathon organizer
15. Shortlisted Semi-Finalist/s: Each individual or team of individuals invited to present their solution to the Hackathon organizer during the Semi-Finale
16. Grand Finale: 1 day selected by the Hackathon organizer, where a few invited participants, hereby known as Shortlisted Finalists, present their final solutions and make an executive pitch to the Hackathon organizer

3. Eligibility

This Hackathon is open to all individuals above the age of eighteen years, at the time of registration. Employees of HackerEarth Inc. and their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, contractors, interns, agents, judges and advertising and promotion agencies, shall not participate in this Hackathon. EY GDS employees will act as mentors to non-EY teams and shall not be part of the participating teams.

4. Dates and deadlines

The Hackathon will be active during the dates or the period mentioned on the Hackathon website. Hackathon deadlines are subject to change, and additional deadlines may be introduced during the Hackathon. Any additional or altered deadlines not already described in these rules, will be updated on the Hackathon website for the participant’s information and the participant will be bound by such changes. 

The participant shall monitor the Hackathon website regularly to get information about new or updated deadlines. Neither HackerEarth nor the Hackathon organizer are responsible for any participant's failure to do so.

 5. One account only

Each registered non-EY individual or member of a team is referred to as a participant. Participants may only participate using a single and unique HackerEarth account, registered at http://www.hackerearth.com. Participating in the Hackathon using more than one HackerEarth account per individual participant, is a breach of these rules and the Hackathon organizer reserves the right to disqualify any participant or team, including that participant, who have breached these rules.

6. Data collection 

HackerEarth will collect your personal information, as specified by the Hackathon organizer. This data includes but is not limited to the following:

• Email address
• Display name
• User profile URL
• Information contained in your user profile
• Any other information collected during registration for the hackathon
• Number of submissions to the Hackathon organizer, including any personally identifiable information that the submissions may contain.

 7. Teams

A participant may either participate in his individual capacity or collaborate with more than one participant to form a team. Each team member must be a single individual with a single and active HackerEarth account. Each team member must register individually for the Hackathon, before joining a team. Teams may not exceed the maximum team size specified by the Hackathon organizer.

8. Team size

For the purpose of this Hackathon, the Hackathon organizer has determined that the maximum participants in a team shall be limited to three participants. If a team is found to consist of more than three participants, it shall be disqualified by the Hackathon organizer. 

9. Submissions and grand finale

As part of the Hackathon, participants are required to submit their material in the platform made available for this purpose. Submissions may include ideas, prototypes, applications or any other format, that is specified on the Hackathon website by the Hackathon organizer. All submissions that you make must be original and unique. All submissions must be made on or before the timeline and must meet all guidelines, prescribed for this purpose. If the Hackathon is conducted in multiple phases, then relevant submissions must be made on or before the end of each phase in the format prescribed on the Hackathon website. All shortlisted finalists must be present on the day of the virtual grand finale event. The finale event will be during weekdays and approximately five hours on the day.

10. Ethics and code of conduct

Participating in a Hackathon using multiple HackerEarth accounts is a violation of Hackathon rules and may result in the team and/or the participants concerned to be disqualified by the Hackathon organizer. On disqualification, the participants’ access to HackerEarth Community shall be terminated, for an indefinite term. Using any unfair means (e.g., having someone else log in using your credentials and submitting a project on your behalf) during the Hackathon will result in your disqualification from the Hackathon and any other Hackathons that may be affected by your actions. You are not allowed to share your submission, code and data with anybody who does not belong to your team.

11. Data and resources

The word “data and resources” refers to the following: data, datasets, or any other resource that is provided to the participants to use during the Hackathon. Data and resources may include a prototype, executable code, or a sandbox instance. This will be provided to the participants either by HackerEarth or by the Hackathon organizer.

12. Rules for using data and resources

Participant shall use data and resources only as defined by the Hackathon organizer and published as part of the Hackathon rules. Data and resources shall be used solely for the purpose of the Hackathon and for the duration of the Hackathon only. The participant shall employ one or more of the following methods: 

• Access, read, learn, analyze, modify the data and resources provided only on the platform
• Create submissions, prototypes and models
• Discuss the data and resources on the Hackathon website in discussion forum

Participants are prohibited from doing the following:

• Copy, store or archive the data and resources
• Use the data and resources for any purpose other than participating in the Hackathon
• Repackaging and selling the data and resources
• Downloading the data and resources in bulk
• Exploiting the data and resources in a manner, that is unethical and is against the spirit of Hackathons

Participant agrees that, participating in the Hackathon does not grant him/her, the license (expressly, by implication, estoppel or otherwise) or any right of ownership, to the data and resources. The participant shall engage suitable measures, to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access, transmitting, duplicating, publishing and distributing the data and resources. 

Participant also agrees to notify HackerEarth in the event of any possible unauthorized transmission or access to the data and resources. They should agree to work with HackerEarth and/or the Hackathon organizer, to remedy any unauthorized transmission.

13. Information sharing

Sharing information privately is important. The participant may not share any information that is developed using the data and resources provided for the Hackathon, privately. This includes source code, presentations and documents. Sharing such information privately, is a breach of the Hackathon’s rules and will result in disqualification.

14. Open-source code

Your submission will not be eligible for a prize, if it is developed using code that contains open-source code or is based on software that has an open-source license. This does not apply to code that complies with the following:

• Is part of an open-source initiative approved license (for more information, see http://opensource.org/) 
• Has an open-source license, that allows it to be used commercially

15. Intellectual property rights

As a participant, you understand and acknowledge that the main objective of this Hackathon is to crowd-source ideas and solutions, to an impending problem statement. By agreeing to participate in this Hackathon, the participant agrees to subject his/her submission to evaluation by the Hackathon organizer and/or HackerEarth, which evaluation shall be based on certain pre-defined criteria. 

Should a submission fulfill all pre-defined criteria, such a submission will be determined as the winning submission (and hereinafter referred to as the “Winning Idea,” only for the sake of convenience) and the participating team or individual who submitted the “winning idea” will be rewarded as per the terms of this Hackathon. The participants responsible for the “winning idea” submission shall be declared “winner” or “winners” of the Hackathon. The question as to whether a submission fulfills all pre-defined criteria shall be decided solely by the Hackathon organizer and such decision shall be final and binding on the participants.

The participants agree that the determination of an idea or submission as a “winning idea” and the declaration of cash reward, aforementioned, shall constitute a binding contract with valid acceptance and valid consideration. The participants agree that all rights, title and interest vested in any submission (including the “winning idea”) and all material forming part of the submissions for the Hackathon and the “winning idea” shall stand assigned to the Hackathon organizer, with the exception of such part of the submission that constitutes open source code.

The participant or participating team hereby represents to Hackathon organizer that no part of the submissions made by the participant or team (including in relation to the “winning idea”) consists of any third party asset (whether intellectual property right or trade secret) and that the same is free from any from encumbrances, restrictions and does not necessitate obtaining a license, consent or approval from any person or body corporate. 

The participant also represents that his/her participation in this Hackathon is outside his/her working hours, that his/her submission has been created outside his/her working hours, and that he/she is not bound by any contract or agreement which transfers the right in the submissions to his/her employer or any other person/entity.

The shortlisted finalists reiterate that the intellectual property (IP) subsisting in, generated or resulting from the submissions, including the “winning idea” and all rights in connection with the IP created shall stand transferred or assigned by way of present and future copyright to of EY GDS for further commercial or non-commercial exploitation.

The shortlisted finalists agree to provide such assistance, as may be called upon by the Hackathon organizer, for the purpose of fully and effectively transferring and/or assigning any intellectual property right, that vests in the submissions, including in the “winning idea” or any other part of the submission, in favor of the Hackathon organizer, as and when called upon by the Hackathon organizer. Such assistance shall include, but not be limited to the execution/signing of any document, application, petition, appeal, affidavit, counters and/or other documents, as may be reasonably requisitioned by the Hackathon organizer, and/or any personal appearances, before any authority concerned and/or making any statement constituting deposition in evidence in any proceeding. The Hackathon organizer agrees to bear all reasonable expenses in connection with such assistance, that may be required from the shortlisted finalists. Furthermore, the shortlisted finalists agree to provide a power of attorney for the aforementioned purposes, in favor of the Hackathon organizer, as and when so called upon by the Hackathon organizer.

Further, the shortlisted finalists hereby agree that the ideas shall not be submitted to any third party, unless and until EY GDS has declined to exploit the said rights, and reassign intellectual property rights, to the relevant shortlisted finalists. 

16. Prizes

The participant will become eligible for any and all the prizes, only upon being invited to the quarter-final, semi-finale and grand finale, as shortlisted quarter finalists, semi-finalists and finalists for grand finale. Without meeting the criteria, the Hackathon organizer is not liable to compensate any participant for his/her contribution toward the hackathon. The winners of this Hackathon shall be rewarded as follows: 

Additional opportunity to work for EY GDS as interns, based on the panel’s recommendation. 

The cash prize will be disbursed to the participant’s bank account, provided to the Hackathon organizer for this purpose. All the prize money mentioned above will be subject to applicable rates of tax, to be deducted at the source, and any withholding taxes.

Note: HackerEarth or its employees shall communicate with the winners directly and obtain necessary information to facilitate the disbursement of prize money. If you participate in the Hackathon as the part of a team and win, then the prizes are cumulatively awarded to each participant of the team. In the case of the cash prize, the total amount is distributed equally among all the participants constituting the team. 

17. Winner’s obligations

As a winner, you are obligated to be in adherence of the published Hackathon rules, failing which, the Hackathon organizer reserves the right to disqualify your submission. The Hackathon organizer may also ask you to fix all the issues that are identified in your submission, including but not limited to, resolution of any licensing conflicts, fulfillment of all requirements for relevant software licenses and removal of anything that violates software restrictions, and such obligations shall survive the completion of the Hackathon.

The winner shall make the final submission in accordance with the submission guidelines of the Hackathon organizer. When you accept a prize, you agree to use of your name, address, likeness, and/or prize information by HackerEarth and the Hackathon organizer for promotional purposes through any medium without any additional compensation.

18. Disqualification

Where a winning participant or a team is disqualified, the prize shall be awarded to a qualifying participant or a team, in any of the following cases: 

• The required documentation is not submitted within fourteen days of receipt of any request to provide documentation.
• The prize notification letter, email or prize is returned because it cannot be delivered.
• The potential winner or a team member of the winning team, is disqualified for any reason. 

19. Warranties and obligations

You must adhere to the following terms and conditions when you are registering for the Hackathon:

• Your account details must be complete and accurate.
• If any information given by your team members or you, during registration, is incomplete or inaccurate, then the following may occur:

• Your registration may be rejected or terminated.
• All the submissions added by your team members and/or you will be disqualified.
• The rights to terminate your account and disqualify your submissions, remain with the Hackathon organizer, which shall solely be its discretion.

• Participation in Hackathons is subject to local laws and regulations. You are solely responsible for compliance with laws and regulations that are applicable to you, before participating in the Hackathon. This allows you to verify that your participation and any receipt of awards is legal, according to the laws and regulations, applicable to you.

• Adhering to your employer’s policies of participating in Hackathons: The Hackathon organizer can deny the liability or responsibility of any Hackathon-related disputes that may occur between your employer and you. These disputes may lead to the termination of your account and disqualification of your submissions.

• Each participant is solely responsible for all the equipment, that is used during the Hackathon. This responsibility includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Working computer and Internet connection required to access the Hackathon website, develop a prototype and upload submissions
• Fees associated with services, such as, availability of telephones, data and resources, hosts
• All costs incurred by you or on your behalf while participating in the Hackathon

• While adding a submission, you represent and warrant the following:

• All the information entered by you on the platform is true and complete to the best of your knowledge.
• You have the right and authority to add a submission for yourself or on the behalf of the persons and entities, that you have specified in the submission.
• You have granted an unrestricted license to the Hackathon organizer and to HackerEarth, to verify and evaluate your submission.
• You also declare and represent that your submission represents your original work and does not represent the following:

• Violate or infringe upon the patent rights (registered and pending), industrial design rights, copyrights, trademarks, privacy rights, publicity rights, intellectual rights or other intellectual property rights or any other rights of any person or entity
• Constitute use of any third-party confidential or non-public information
• Contain malicious code, potentially harmful programs, such as, viruses, time bombs, cancelbots, worms and trojan horses
• Contain any self-help code or other disabling code
• Violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance, rule or regulation
• Trigger any reports or royalty obligation to any third party
• Contain previously published and won prizes or awards

If any of these warranties are violated by your team members or you, then it may result in the disqualification of the corresponding submission.

20. Limitation of liability

By participating in the Hackathon, each participant agrees to release, indemnify and hold harmless HackerEarth and the Hackathon organizer, their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotions agencies, as applicable, and each of their respective agents, representatives, officers, directors, shareholders and employees from and against any injuries, losses, damages, claims, actions and any liability of any kind resulting from or arising out of your participation in or association with the Hackathon.

• You agree that the Hackathon organizer is not responsible for any miscommunication that may occur during the Hackathon because of the following reasons:

• Technical failures related to computers, telephones and cables
• Unavailability of network or server connections
• Technical failures due to hardware issues, software issues or viruses
• Incomplete, late or misdirected submissions

• The Hackathon organizer reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend the Hackathon due to any of the following reasons:

• Computer viruses
• Bugs
• Technical difficulties that are beyond the control of the Hackathon organizer
• Technical difficulties that can affect the administration, security or execution of the Hackathon

• The winners of the Hackathon are determined from the submissions that are not affected by these difficulties, if any, in its sole discretion. HackerEarth and the Hackathon organizer are not responsible for the following:

• Late, lost, stolen, damaged, distorted, incomplete, incorrect or misdirected submissions and communication.
• Errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects or delays in operations, or during transmission of the information, irrespective of whether these difficulties have occurred because of technical failures or malfunctions of computer hardware, software, communication devices or transmission lines.
• Data corruption, theft, loss, destruction and alteration of submission details.
• Unauthorized access to submissions.
• Undelivered electronic communication or emails, because of any active or passive filters applied or insufficient space in the email account, to which the email was sent.
• Any damage to a computer system during participation, while accessing or while downloading information.

21. Reservation of rights

• The Hackathon organizer reserves the right to modify the start date and the end date of the Hackathon and add or remove additional deadlines related to the Hackathon. Such changes are communicated through the Hackathon website only, as mentioned. 

• All material changes to timelines and/or Hackathon rules will be communicated via the Hackathon website and through email notifications. However, if you do not receive an email notification for reasons outside our control (like incorrect email address, issues with your ISP and email going to spam folder), the Hackathon organizer and HackerEarth are not responsible for any claims arising from it, and participants must agree to waive any such claims.