You may recall that a few days ago I commented on Avid’s 60-second video contest, which will send the grand prize winner to NAB 2006. Well, if you check out the PDF that details the contest rules you will find that under the eligibility section there is a sentence that reads:
Canadian winners may be required to answer a time-limited mathematical skill-testing question as a condition of claiming a prize.
What? A timed math question in order to win the prize? Now, what could Avid have against Canadians? Is it something to do with NAB being held in the United States? Whatever the case may be, I find it worth a chuckle, but of course I’m not Canadian… I did dispatch an email to the address found in the PDF, but no response for a couple days now so I’m posting this up for kicks.
See the contest rules (PDF)
UPDATE: Thanks to astute readers who know their laws it seems we have the answer to the question. Read the comments to find out more.? I still think it’s funny.
WTF?
No conspiracy here, it’s pretty logical actually:
“Under the Criminal Code, it is illegal to hold a lottery without a licence. Giving away a prize based on chance alone — a random draw, for instance — is considered a form of lottery. The contest industry invented the skill-testing question to get around that restriction. If a contest includes an element of skill, it is no longer considered purely a game of chance.”
From here:
http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/archives/000522.html