Please read these rules before entering the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Tournament 2009 Ladder Contest (the “Ladder Contest”), and the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Tournament 2009 Finals (referred to herein as the "Finals"). By entering and participating in the Contest, you agree to be bound by these Official Rules and represent that you satisfy all of the eligibility requirements in paragraph 1 below.

1. Eligibility. BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC., (REFERED TO HEREIN AS “SPONSOR”); IS THE SPONSOR OF THIS CONTEST. THIS CONTEST IS OPEN ONLY TO INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE: (i) OF THE AGE OF MAJORITY IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SINGAPORE, FRANCE, BELGIUM, UNITED KINGDOM, LUXEMBOURG, GERMANY, AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND, SWEDEN, FINLAND, DENMARK, NORWAY, SPAIN, IRELAND, RUSSIA, THE NETHERLANDS, THE CZECH REPUBLIC, CROATIA, AND SOUTH KOREA AND (ii) WHO ARE NOT RESIDENTS OF THE STATES OF NORTH DAKOTA, VERMONT, CONNECTICUT, OR MARYLYAND IN THE UNITED STATES; OR RESIDENTS OF THE AUSTRALIAN STATES OF VICTORIA, QUEENSLAND OR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY ("ENTRANTS"). If you are under the legal age of majority in your country of residence (a "Minor"), one of your parents or legal guardians must read and agree to these Contest rules on behalf of you and themselves in order to win a prize. To be eligible to win a prize, entries must be completed and received by Sponsor in the format designated below. Directors, officers and employees of Sponsor, its parent, and any of their respective affiliate companies, subsidiaries, agents, professional advisors, advertising and promotional agencies, and immediate families of each are not eligible to win any prizes. All applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Offer void where prohibited. Participants must have a Battle.net account which includes an associated valid email address to be eligible for the Ladder Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to verify the email address provided to Sponsor by Entrant. In the event of any dispute, entries containing an invalid email address will be deemed ineligible.

2. Disclaimer. Sponsor, Prize Suppliers, and any of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, professional advisors, employees and agencies will not be responsible for (a) any late, lost, misrouted, garbled or distorted or damaged transmissions or entries; (b) telephone, electronic, hardware, software, network, Internet, or other computer- or communications-related malfunctions or failures; (c) any Contest disruptions, injuries, losses or damages caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor; or (d) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest.

3. Contest Period. The Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Tournament 2009 Ladder Contest shall commence on April 03, 2009 and shall continue in duration through April 24, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. PDT (the "Deadline"). Thereafter, Sponsor shall distribute invitations to the players who qualify for the regional LAN tournament competitions, which shall occur at a time and place to be determined by Sponsor. Following the conclusion of the Regional LAN Contests, the players who qualify for the Finals will receive invitations from Sponsor to the Final Event. It is expected that the Finals will have been completed by November 1, 2009.

4. How to Enter and Determination of Winners.

1. The Ladder Contest. Sponsor shall invite the top one hundred (100) players from the [US], the top one hundred (100) from the [EU] and the top one hundred (100) players from the [Korean] Gateways to compete in the Ladder Contest who are the top ranked players in their respective regions as of March 27, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. PDT. The Ladder Contest is a contest of skill to determine the best "Solo" player of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. To enter, you must have a Battle.net account which includes a valid email address, and play Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne as a "Solo" ladder players on either one of the following Gateways during the Ladder Contest Period: the [US] Gateway, the [EU] Gateway, and the [Korean] Gateway. Any cheating, perceived cheating, including, but not necessarily limited to “win-trading,” or account sharing, as well as griefing, as determined by Blizzard in its sole discretion, will disqualify Entrants. All competition for this Ladder Contest shall be in accordance with these rules, the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne End User License Agreement, the Battle.net Terms of Use agreement, and the Blizzard Ladder Rules set forth on the www.battle.net website, which are incorporated herein by this reference. Blizzard will select the most qualified solo entrants based on the Battle.net Solo Ladders to provide eligibility for this Ladder Contest, and will post brackets of all eligible players on the Ladder Contest website located at www.battle.net. The winners of the Ladder Contest will be determined as follows: There will be three (3) qualification periods, one (1) for Korean players, one (1) for European players, and one (1) for North American players, for the contest beginning on April 6, 2009 and ending on April 24, 2009 the top six (6) solo players on the [US] Battle.net Gateway at 12pm PDT; the top six (6) solo players on the [EU] Battle.net Gateway; and the top six (6) solo players on the [Korean] Battle.net Gateway; and the top two (2) players from the previous year’s Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Tournament Ladder Contest from each region will also qualify for the Stage 2 of the Contest, which will be regional qualifier tournaments.
2. Regional Qualifier Contests. The dates and times of the Regional Qualifier Contests will be contained in notices that Sponsor will distribute to the qualifying players. Each of the Regional Qualifier Contests will be held on a Local Access Network, and in accordance with and under the same rules as the Ladder Contest. The entrants who qualify for the Regional Qualifier contests will compete in a "best 2 out 3 games" elimination format to determine who will qualify for the Finals. The top two (2) players in the [US] Regional Qualifier; the top three (3) players in the [EU] Regional Qualifier, and the top three (3) players from the [Korea] Regional Qualifier shall qualify for the Finals.
3. The Finals. The dates and times of the Finals will be contained in notices that Sponsor will distribute to the qualifying players. The entrants who qualify for the Finals will compete in a "best 2 out 3 games" elimination format to determine the first and second, place winners. The Finals will be held on a Local Access Network, and in accordance with and under the same rules as the Ladder Contest.

5. Prizes.

1. The qualified entrants who finish as the top 20 players from each region in the Ladder Contest as of April 24, 2009 12 p.m. PDT will receive a StarCraft II beta key, subject to meeting the following requirements: (i) the qualified entrant must have finished as one of the top 20 players in their region; (ii) the qualified entrant must have a valid email address associated with their Battle.net account; (iii) the qualified entrant must meet all eligibility requirements for the StarCraft II beta test; and (iv) the qualified entrant must agree and adhere to the StarCraft II Beta Test Agreement to be able to claim the StarCraft II Beta Key prize.
2. Regional Qualifier Contestants. Each entrant that qualifies for a Regional Qualifier tournament will win a trip to the Regional Qualifier that includes round trip coach air fare from the regional airport nearest the qualifying player’s residence to the site of the Regional Qualifier Tournament which the entrant has qualified for, as well as two (2) nights lodging at a hotel of Sponsor’s choice, meals and ground transportation. The approximate retail price of this prize package is estimated at no less than $1,500.00, depending upon the cost of travel for the entrant to attend the Regional Qualifier Tournament. Additionally,
   1. Third Place Winner. The entrant who places third in their respective Regional Tournament shall receive a prize package consisting of a check in the amount of $1,000.00 U.S.
   2. Second Place Winner. The entrant who places second in their respective Regional Tournament shall receive a prize package consisting of a check in the amount of $2,000.00 U.S.
   3. First Place Winner. The entrant who places first in their respective Regional Tournament shall receive a prize package consisting of a check in the amount of $5,000.00 U.S.
3. Finals Contestants. Each entrant that qualifies for the Finals tournament will win a prize package consisting of a trip to the Finals that includes a round trip coach air fare from the regional airport nearest the qualifying player’s residence to the site of the, as well as two (2) nights lodging at a hotel of Sponsor’s choice, meals and ground transportation. The approximate retail price of this prize package is estimated at no less than $ 2,500.00 depending upon the cost of travel for the entrant to attend the Finals.
   1. Third Place Winner. The entrant who places third in the Finals tournament shall receive a prize package consisting of a check in the amount of $5,000.00 U.S.
   2. Second Place Winner. The entrant who places second in the Finals tournament shall receive a prize package consisting of a check in the amount of $10,000.00 U.S.
   3. First Place Winner. The entrant who places ‘First’ in the Finals tournament shall receive a prize package consisting of a check in the amount of $25,000.00 U.S. and a “trophy” commemorating the entrant’s achievement of placing ‘First’ in the Finals tournament.

*All cash prizes will be paid in U.S. currency. Winners will be required to complete and submit to Sponsor an IRS form W-8 or W-9 to receive a cash prize.

6. Sponsor Ownership of Entries. All entries and materials submitted to Sponsor in connection with the Contest (collectively, "Entry Materials"), along with all copyright, trademark and other proprietary rights associated therewith, become the property of Sponsor upon submission, and Entry Materials will not be returned to any Entrant. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you acknowledge that Sponsor will own all rights to use, modify, reproduce, publish, perform, display, distribute, make derivative works of and otherwise commercially and non-commercially exploit the Entry Materials in perpetuity and throughout the universe, in any manner or medium now existing or hereafter developed, without separate compensation to you or any other person or entity. You agree to take, at Sponsor's expense, any further action (including, without limitation, execution of affidavits and other documents) reasonably requested by Sponsor to effect, perfect or confirm Sponsor's ownership rights as set forth above in this paragraph 6.

7. Original Work of Authorship. You hereby warrant and represent that (a) you own all rights to all Entry Materials submitted by you and (b) all such Entry Materials are original works of authorship on your part and have not been copied, in whole or in part, from any other work and do not violate, misappropriate or infringe any copyright, trademark or other proprietary right of any other person or entity.

8. Collection of Information. The Entry Materials include a survey that requires you to enter your name, email address, and state of residence. This information will only be used to contact you in the event that you are chosen to receive a prize. Sponsor will not sell, rent or otherwise transfer this information to any third party, nor will Sponsor use this information for marketing purposes without your consent. As stated above, the Contest is not open to Minors without the express consent of a parent or legal guardian. In the event that you are under the age of thirteen (13) years and submit Entry Materials to Sponsor, Sponsor will delete, erase or destroy any and all personally identifiable information that is obtained from the Entry Materials following the conclusion of the Contest.

9. General Release. By entering the Contest, you release Sponsor, Prize Suppliers, and any of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees and agencies (collectively, the "Released Parties") from any liability whatsoever, and waive any and all causes of action related to any claims, costs, injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the Contest or delivery, misdelivery, acceptance, possession, use of or inability to use any prize (including, without limitation, claims, costs, injuries, losses and damages related to personal injuries, death, damage to or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation or portrayal in a false light, whether intentional or unintentional), whether under a theory of contract, tort (including negligence), warranty or other theory.

10. Affidavit & Release. As a condition of being awarded any prize, winners may be required to execute and deliver to Sponsor a signed affidavit of eligibility and acceptance of these Official Rules and release of liability.

11. Winners List; Rules Request. A list of winners will be posted at www.battle.net no later than November, 30, 2009. For a copy of the winners list, send a stamped, self-addressed, business-size envelope after November 30, 2009 and before February 28, 2010 to Sponsor at the address listed below, Attn: Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Tournament 2009 Ladder Contest - Winners List. To obtain a copy of these rules, send a stamped, self-addressed business-size envelope to Sponsor at the address listed below, Attn: Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Tournament Ladder Contest - Rules Request. Residents of WA and VT may omit return postage.

12. Copyright Notice. The Contest and all accompanying materials are copyright © 2007 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., and its respective licensors. All rights are reserved.

13. Miscellaneous. Sponsor reserves the right to patch or update Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne at any time to fix bugs, change balance, or add features as deemed appropriate by the Sponsor, in its sole discretion, without suspending or canceling the Contest. The Contest and these Official Rules will be governed, construed and interpreted under the laws of the United States. Entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and by the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding in all respects. Sponsor reserves the right to change these Official Rules at any time, in its sole discretion, and to suspend or cancel the Contest or any Entrant's participation in the Contest should viruses, bugs, unauthorized human intervention or other causes beyond Sponsor's control affect the administration, security or proper play of the Contest, or Sponsor otherwise becomes (as determined in its sole discretion) incapable of running the Contest as planned. Entrants who violate these Official Rules, tamper with the operation of the Contest or engage in any conduct that is detrimental or unfair to Sponsor, the Contest or any other Entrant (in each case as determined in Sponsor's sole discretion) are subject to disqualification from entry into the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to lock out persons whose eligibility is in question or who have been disqualified or are otherwise ineligible to enter the Contest. If you have any questions about these Official Rules or the Contest, please email them to wc-tourneyinfo@blizzard.com or send written questions to:

Warcraft III Tournament Ladder Contest c/o Blizzard Entertainment eSports Department, P.O Box 18979, Irvine CA 92623

14. Contest Sponsor. The sponsor of the Contest is Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., c/o Blizzard Entertainment P.O Box 18979, Irvine CA 92623.