Security Hardening of Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces

AWARD RULES:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

These rules apply to the “2024 IEEE Access Best Video Award Part 2″ (the “Award”).

1. Sponsor: The Sponsor of the Award is The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Incorporated (“IEEE”) on behalf of IEEE Access, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854-4141 USA (“Sponsor”).

2. Eligibility: Award is open to residents of the United States of America and other countries, where permitted by local law, who are the age of eighteen (18) and older. Employees of Sponsor, its agents, affiliates and their immediate families are not eligible to enter Award. The Award is subject to all applicable state, local, federal and national laws and regulations. Entrants may be subject to rules imposed by their institution or employer relative to their participation in Awards and should check with their institution or employer for any relevant policies. Void in locations and countries where prohibited by law.

3. Agreement to Official Rules: By participating in this Award, entrants agree to abide by the terms and conditions thereof as established by Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to alter any of these Official Rules at any time and for any reason.  All decisions made by Sponsor concerning the Award including, but not limited to the cancellation of the Award, shall be final and at its sole discretion. 

4. How to Enter: This Award opens on July 1, 2024 at 12:00 AM ET and all entries must be received by 11:59 PM ET on December 31, 2024 (“Promotional Period”).

Entrant must submit a video with an article submission to IEEE Access. The video submission must clearly be relevant to the submitted manuscript.  Only videos that accompany an article that is accepted for publication in IEEE Access will qualify.  The video may be simulations, demonstrations, or interviews with other experts, for example.  Your video file should not exceed 100 MB.

Entrants can enter the Award during Promotional Period through the following method:

1. The IEEE Author Portal: Entrants can upload their video entries while submitting their article through the IEEE Author Portal submission site.
2. Review and Complete the Terms and Conditions: After submitting your manuscript and video through the IEEE Author Portal, entrants should then review and sign the Terms and Conditions.

Entrants who have already submitted a manuscript to IEEE Access without a video can still submit a video for inclusion in this Award so long as the video is submitted within 7 days of the article submission date.  The video can be submitted via email to the article administrator.  All videos must undergo peer review and be accepted along with the article submission.  Videos may not be submitted after an article has already been accepted for publication. 

The criteria for an article to be accepted for publication in IEEE Access are:

1. The article must be original writing that enhances the existing body of knowledge in the given subject area. Original review articles and surveys are acceptable even if new data/concepts are not presented.
2. Results reported must not have been submitted or published elsewhere (although expanded versions of conference publications are eligible for submission).
3. Experiments, statistics, and other analyses must be performed to a high technical standard and are described in sufficient detail.
4. Conclusions must be presented in an appropriate fashion and are supported by the data.
5. The article must be written in standard English with correct grammar.
6. Appropriate references to related prior published works must be included.
7. The article must fall within the scope of IEEE Access
8. Must be in compliance with the IEEE PSPB Operations Manual.
9. Completion of the required IEEE intellectual property documents for publication.
10. At the discretion of the IEEE Access Editor-in-Chief.

5. Disqualification: The following items will disqualify a video from being considered a valid submission:

1. The video is not original work.
2. A video that is not accompanied with an article submission.
3. The article and/or video is rejected during the peer review process.
4. The article and/or video topic does not fit into the scope of IEEE Access.
5. The article and/or do not follow the criteria for publication in IEEE Access.
6. Videos posted in a comment on IEEE Xplore.
7. Content ​is off-topic, offensive, obscene, indecent, abusive or threatening to others.
8. Infringes the copyright, trademark or other right of any third party.
9. Uploads viruses or other contaminating or destructive features.
10. Is in violation of any applicable laws or regulations.
11. Is not in English​.
12. Is not provided within the designated submission time.
13. Entrant does not agree and sign the Terms and Conditions document.

Entries must be original. Entries that copy other entries, or the intellectual property of anyone other than the Entrant, may be removed by Sponsor and the Entrant may be disqualified. Sponsor reserves the right to remove any entry and disqualify any Entrant if the entry is deemed, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, to be inappropriate.

6. Entrant’s Warranty and Authorization to Sponsor: By entering the Award, entrants warrant and represent that the Award Entry has been created and submitted by the Entrant. Entrant certifies that they have the ability to use any image, text, video, or other intellectual property they may upload and that Entrant has obtained all necessary permissions. IEEE shall not indemnify Entrant for any infringement, violation of publicity rights, or other civil or criminal violations. Entrant agrees to hold IEEE harmless for all actions related to the submission of an Entry. Entrants further represent and warrant, if they reside outside of the United States of America, that their participation in this Award and acceptance of a prize will not violate their local laws.

7. Intellectual Property Rights: Entrant grants Sponsor an irrevocable, worldwide, royalty free license to use, reproduce, distribute, and display the Entry for any lawful purpose in all media whether now known or hereinafter created. This may include, but is not limited to, the IEEE Access website, the IEEE Access YouTube channel, the IEEE Access IEEE TV channel, IEEE Access social media sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, IEEE Access Collabratec Community), and the IEEE Access Xplore page. Facebook/Twitter/Microsite usernames will not be used in any promotional and advertising materials without the Entrants’ expressed approval.

8. Number of Prizes Available, Prizes, Approximate Retail Value and Odds of winning Prizes: Two (2) promotional prizes of $350 USD Amazon gift cards. One (1) grand prize of a $500 USD Amazon gift card. Prizes will be distributed to the winners after the selection of winners is announced. Odds of winning a prize depend on the number of eligible entries received during the Promotional Period. Only the corresponding author of the submitted manuscript will receive the prize.

The grand prize winner may, at Sponsor’ discretion, have his/her article and video highlighted in media such as the IEEE Access Xplore page and the IEEE Access social media sites.

The prize(s) for the Award are being sponsored by IEEE.  No cash in lieu of prize or substitution of prize permitted, except that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize or prize component of equal or greater value in its sole discretion for any reason at time of award.  Sponsor shall not be responsible for service obligations or warranty (if any) in relation to the prize(s). Prize may not be transferred prior to award. All other expenses associated with use of the prize, including, but not limited to local, state, or federal taxes on the Prize, are the sole responsibility of the winner.  Winner(s) understand that delivery of a prize may be void where prohibited by law and agrees that Sponsor shall have no obligation to substitute an alternate prize when so prohibited. Amazon is not a sponsor or affiliated with this Award.

9. Selection of Winners: Promotional prize winners will be selected based on entries received during the Promotional Period. The sponsor will utilize an Editorial Panel to vote on the best video submissions. Editorial Panel members are not eligible to participate in the Award.  Entries will be ranked based on three (3) criteria:

1. Presentation of Technical Content
2. Innovation
3. Quality of Video

Upon selecting a winner, the Sponsor will notify the winner via email. All potential winners will be notified via their email provided to the sponsor. Potential winners will have five (5) business days to respond after receiving initial prize notification or the prize may be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner. Potential winners may be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility, a liability release, and a publicity release.  If requested, these documents must be completed, signed, and returned within ten (10) business days from the date of issuance or the prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to an alternate winner. If prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable or in the event of noncompliance with these Official Rules, prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to an alternate winner.

10. General Prize Restrictions: No prize substitutions or transfer of prize permitted, except by the Sponsor. Import/Export taxes, VAT and country taxes on prizes are the sole responsibility of winners. Acceptance of a prize constitutes permission for the Sponsor and its designees to use winner’s name and likeness for advertising, promotional and other purposes in any and all media now and hereafter known without additional compensation unless prohibited by law. Winner acknowledges that neither Sponsor, Award Entities nor their directors, employees, or agents, have made nor are in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representation, or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, relative to any prize, including but not limited to its quality, mechanical condition or fitness for a particular purpose. Any and all warranties and/or guarantees on a prize (if any) are subject to the respective manufacturers’ terms therefor, and winners agree to look solely to such manufacturers for any such warranty and/or guarantee.

11.Release, Publicity, and Privacy: By receipt of the Prize and/or, if requested, by signing an affidavit of eligibility and liability/publicity release, the Prize Winner consents to the use of his or her name, likeness, business name and address by Sponsor for advertising and promotional purposes, including but not limited to on Sponsor’s social media pages, without any additional compensation, except where prohibited.  No entries will be returned.  All entries become the property of Sponsor.  The Prize Winner agrees to release and hold harmless Sponsor and its officers, directors, employees, affiliated companies, agents, successors and assigns from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Award. 

Sponsor assumes no responsibility for computer system, hardware, software or program malfunctions or other errors, failures, delayed computer transactions or network connections that are human or technical in nature, or for damaged, lost, late, illegible or misdirected entries; technical, hardware, software, electronic or telephone failures of any kind; lost or unavailable network connections; fraudulent, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions whether caused by Sponsor, the users, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this Award; or by any technical or human error that may occur in the processing of submissions or downloading, that may limit, delay or prevent an entrant’s ability to participate in the Award.

Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend this Award and award a prize from entries received up to the time of termination or suspension should virus, bugs or other causes beyond Sponsor’s control, unauthorized human intervention, malfunction, computer problems, phone line or network hardware or software malfunction, which, in the sole opinion of Sponsor, corrupt, compromise or materially affect the administration, fairness, security or proper play of the Award or proper submission of entries.  Sponsor is not liable for any loss, injury or damage caused, whether directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from downloading data or otherwise participating in this Award.

Representations and Warranties Regarding Entries: By submitting an Entry, you represent and warrant that your Entry does not and shall not comprise, contain, or describe, as determined in Sponsor’s sole discretion: (A) false statements or any misrepresentations of your affiliation with a person or entity; (B) personally identifying information about you or any other person; (C) statements or other content that is false, deceptive, misleading, scandalous, indecent, obscene, unlawful, defamatory, libelous, fraudulent, tortious, threatening, harassing, hateful, degrading, intimidating, or racially or ethnically offensive; (D) conduct that could be considered a criminal offense, could give rise to criminal or civil liability, or could violate any law; (E) any advertising, promotion or other solicitation, or any third party brand name or trademark; or (F) any virus, worm, Trojan horse, or other harmful code or component. By submitting an Entry, you represent and warrant that you own the full rights to the Entry and have obtained any and all necessary consents, permissions, approvals and licenses to submit the Entry and comply with all of these Official Rules, and that the submitted Entry is your sole original work, has not been previously published, released or distributed, and does not infringe any third-party rights or violate any laws or regulations.

12.Disputes: EACH ENTRANT AGREES THAT: (1) ANY AND ALL DISPUTES, CLAIMS, AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AWARD, OR ANY PRIZES AWARDED, SHALL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY, WITHOUT RESORTING TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION, PURSUANT TO ARBITRATION CONDUCTED UNDER THE COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION RULES OF THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION THEN IN EFFECT, (2) ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, JUDGMENTS AND AWARDS SHALL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS INCURRED, INCLUDING COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ENTERING THIS AWARD, BUT IN NO EVENT ATTORNEYS’ FEES; AND (3) UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL ANY ENTRANT BE PERMITTED TO OBTAIN AWARDS FOR, AND ENTRANT HEREBY WAIVES ALL RIGHTS TO CLAIM, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, AND ANY OTHER DAMAGES, OTHER THAN FOR ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES, AND ANY AND ALL RIGHTS TO HAVE DAMAGES MULTIPLIED OR OTHERWISE INCREASED. ALL ISSUES AND QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE CONSTRUCTION, VALIDITY, INTERPRETATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES, OR THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF ENTRANT AND SPONSOR IN CONNECTION WITH THE AWARD, SHALL BE GOVERNED BY, AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, WITHOUT GIVING EFFECT TO ANY CHOICE OF LAW OR CONFLICT OF LAW, RULES OR PROVISIONS (WHETHER OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION) THAT WOULD CAUSE THE APPLICATION OF THE LAWS OF ANY JURISDICTION OTHER THAN THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY. SPONSOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY TYPOGRAPHICAL OR OTHER ERROR IN THE PRINTING OF THE OFFER OR ADMINISTRATION OF THE AWARD OR IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE PRIZES.

13. Limitation of Liability: The Sponsor, Award Entities and their respective parents, affiliates, divisions, licensees, subsidiaries, and advertising and promotion agencies, and each of the foregoing entities’ respective employees, officers, directors, shareholders and agents (the “Released Parties”) are not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate transfer of entry information, human error, technical malfunction, lost/delayed data transmissions, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, line failures of any telephone network, computer equipment, software or any combination thereof, inability to access web sites, damage to a user’s computer system (hardware and/or software) due to participation in this Award or any other problem or error that may occur. By entering, participants agree to release and hold harmless the Released Parties from and against any and all claims, actions and/or liability for injuries, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with participation in and/or liability for injuries, loss or damage of any kind, to person or property, arising from or in connection with participation in and/or entry into this Award, participation is any Award-related activity or use of any prize won. Entry materials that have been tampered with or altered are void. If for any reason this Award is not capable of running as planned, or if this Award or any website associated therewith (or any portion thereof) becomes corrupted or does not allow the proper playing of this Award and processing of entries per these rules, or if infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Award, Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual implicated in such action, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend this Award or any portion thereof, or to amend these rules without notice. In the event of a dispute as to who submitted an online entry, the entry will be deemed submitted by the authorized account holder the email address submitted at the time of entry. “Authorized Account Holder” is defined as the person assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the email address in question. Any attempt by an entrant or any other individual to deliberately damage any web site or undermine the legitimate operation of the Award is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. This Award is governed by the laws of the State of New Jersey and all entrants hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of federal or state courts located in the State of New Jersey for the resolution of all claims and disputes. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, G+, YouTube, IEEE Xplore, and IEEE TV are not sponsors nor affiliated with this Award.

14. Award Results and Official Rules: To obtain the identity of the prize winner and/or a copy of these Official Rules, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Kimberly Rybczynski, IEEE, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854-4141 USA.