I see a lot of these online, but what are the actual laws regarding contests you may run on your website? As an example say you run a monthly contest that has a $30.00 prize paid through Paypal every month. There is no purchase required to enter the contest. All that is required is that you sign up for the websites newsletter. Is this perfectly legal as long as you do not charge people money to enter? I see the standard clause is usually "no purchase necessary."
Hi, If all that's required is that they sign up to receive a newsletter, I believe it's perfectly legal. However, it would be considered more of a sweepstakes rather than a contest. This link might help you out: http://www.ecomputerlaw.com/articles/show_article.php?article=2006_online_sweepstakes According to that article, as long as users are able to enter the sweepstakes for free and they don't have to go through 10 different pages of ads in order to enter, it's considered legal.
This just seems like one of those overly complicated federal and state law things. Also, it seems like if you had a competitor they could really screw with you by reporting your contest or sweepstakes even if it is legal. So what defines asking for to much information anyway? Name and address of contestant? Name, address, and email? Name, address, email, and phone number? When does it cross the line from a friendly game to a legal nightmare?