I don't think it's illegal, on the grounds that such a posting has no value. If no tangible effort or money was provided by the entrant, it's not gambling.
(This may not be the strict letter of the law everywhere, but it's how those laws have tended to be interpreted in most parts of the USA over the last half-century. I encourage anyone who's insatiably curious about this to read the "ongoing legal debate" link in an earlier comment. It's fascinating stuff!)
Below here is not relevant to this case, just for the interest of readers.
If the organizer had said "text my premium SMS number to enter" it would probably be another matter. That provides a benefit to them, from you, even if it goes via the phone company. Similarly, if they'd said "you have to buy a service from these people who'll give me $10 for every ten people who sign up".
The jury's still out on vague non-monetary cost/benefit, like filling in brief customer surveys, signing up to mailing lists, or posting a journal about the promotion - if you want to do something like that, be sure that the cost to the entrant is trivial. I'd leave an "or you can email me to enter" option open myself.
It also gets complicated when people say "buy this and you'll get a chance to win . . ." - such promotions may be legal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweepstakes), but often require an alternate free method of entry similar to the above. UK law here is different to Canada, which is different to Quebec in Canada, which is different to each state in the USA.
This is what McDonalds has to deal with when they do that game where they "give out" Monopoly pieces with Big Macs - if you read the rules, you'll find you can mail them a self-addressed stamped envelope to get a free game piece without buying anything. (And if you live in Vermont, they have to provide that stamp - by law!)
Funnily enough, you're likely to be fine doing a random drawing to give a past customer a prize - as long as you don't tell anyone about it beforehand; the reason being that they only paid for goods/services, not the chance to win a prize. (If it became known that you do a monthly drawing, that's another matter…)
I spent a couple of days researching this, not two weeks ago, because the issue came up and my site needs to form policies on what you can and can't do, and how to do it. Long story short: if you intend to link a giveaway to the sale of goods or services, or run a contest of skill with a fee for entry; do your own research, be very careful and state that only those people in jurisdictions which you have checked may enter.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2015-07-06 03:58 pm (UTC)(This may not be the strict letter of the law everywhere, but it's how those laws have tended to be interpreted in most parts of the USA over the last half-century. I encourage anyone who's insatiably curious about this to read the "ongoing legal debate" link in an earlier comment. It's fascinating stuff!)
Below here is not relevant to this case, just for the interest of readers.
If the organizer had said "text my premium SMS number to enter" it would probably be another matter. That provides a benefit to them, from you, even if it goes via the phone company. Similarly, if they'd said "you have to buy a service from these people who'll give me $10 for every ten people who sign up".
The jury's still out on vague non-monetary cost/benefit, like filling in brief customer surveys, signing up to mailing lists, or posting a journal about the promotion - if you want to do something like that, be sure that the cost to the entrant is trivial. I'd leave an "or you can email me to enter" option open myself.
It also gets complicated when people say "buy this and you'll get a chance to win . . ." - such promotions may be legal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweepstakes), but often require an alternate free method of entry similar to the above. UK law here is different to Canada, which is different to Quebec in Canada, which is different to each state in the USA.
This is what McDonalds has to deal with when they do that game where they "give out" Monopoly pieces with Big Macs - if you read the rules, you'll find you can mail them a self-addressed stamped envelope to get a free game piece without buying anything. (And if you live in Vermont, they have to provide that stamp - by law!)
Funnily enough, you're likely to be fine doing a random drawing to give a past customer a prize - as long as you don't tell anyone about it beforehand; the reason being that they only paid for goods/services, not the chance to win a prize. (If it became known that you do a monthly drawing, that's another matter…)
I spent a couple of days researching this, not two weeks ago, because the issue came up and my site needs to form policies on what you can and can't do, and how to do it. Long story short: if you intend to link a giveaway to the sale of goods or services, or run a contest of skill with a fee for entry; do your own research, be very careful and state that only those people in jurisdictions which you have checked may enter.