# DOOMS PROTOCOL — TERMS & CONDITIONS **Last Updated:** [INSERT DATE] **Effective Date:** [INSERT DATE] > **Important:** This document is a working legal draft prepared for the DOOMS PROTOCOL event. It is not legal advice and should be reviewed and finalized by qualified legal counsel before publication, particularly with respect to applicable law, registration fees, refunds, prizes, minors, intellectual property, taxation, and jurisdiction. ## 1. About These Terms These Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) govern participation in **DOOMS PROTOCOL** (“Event”), an online, month-long developer event organized and operated by **R3actr Innovations LLP** (“Organizer”, “R3actr”, “we”, “us”, or “our”). By registering for, accessing, or participating in the Event, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms, together with any Event-specific rules, mission briefs, submission requirements, judging criteria, privacy notices, and other instructions published by the Organizer. If you do not agree to these Terms, you should not register for or participate in the Event. ## 2. The DOOMS PROTOCOL Concept DOOMS PROTOCOL is a fictional, technology-focused developer event built around a simulated internet-collapse scenario. Within the Event narrative, the **Network Continuity Authority (“NCA”)** is a fictional organization that issues emergency broadcasts, publishes recovery missions, evaluates fictional recovery systems, and records the restoration of critical internet services. The NCA is a fictional narrative and gameplay entity only. It is not a separate legal entity, government authority, regulator, emergency organization, or payment processor. It does not independently operate the Event, collect participant information, process registration fees, issue legal credentials, or assume responsibility for any Event activity. All real-world Event operations, registrations, communications, payments, judging administration, prizes or recognition, website operations, and participant relationships are handled by R3actr Innovations LLP or its authorized service providers. ## 3. Event Format DOOMS PROTOCOL is intended to run as a month-long online developer event during **December 2026**, subject to the final schedule published by the Organizer. The Event is structured around a sequence of fictional system failures and recovery missions. Participants may be asked to design, develop, test, deploy, document, and demonstrate software systems responding to the requirements of each mission. The Organizer may publish detailed mission briefs separately. Those mission briefs will form part of the applicable Event rules for the relevant recovery window. The Organizer may reasonably modify dates, deadlines, mission specifications, datasets, technical requirements, or operational procedures where necessary for security, fairness, technical reliability, legal compliance, or Event continuity. ## 4. Eligibility Participation is subject to the eligibility requirements published by the Organizer. Participants must provide accurate registration information and must be legally permitted to participate in the Event in their jurisdiction. If the Event permits participants under the age of 18, additional consent or documentation requirements may apply. Where required, participation by a minor may be conditional upon verifiable consent from a parent or legal guardian. The Organizer may request reasonable information to verify eligibility. Employees, contractors, judges, organizers, sponsors, or other individuals directly involved in administering or judging a particular mission may be restricted from participating in that mission where necessary to preserve fairness and avoid conflicts of interest. ## 5. Registration Registration must be completed through the official registration process designated by the Organizer. Each participant is responsible for ensuring that the information supplied during registration is accurate, complete, and current. Where accounts or access credentials are provided, participants are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of those credentials and for activity conducted through their accounts. The Organizer may refuse, suspend, or cancel a registration where information is materially inaccurate, fraudulent, incomplete, or inconsistent with the Event rules. Registration does not guarantee that a participant will be selected for any prize, recognition, publication, showcase, or other outcome unless expressly stated in the applicable Event rules. ## 6. Registration Fees The Organizer may require an initial registration or participation fee. Any applicable fee, amount, currency, taxes, payment deadline, payment method, and refund conditions will be disclosed during registration or in the applicable Event information. Unless otherwise stated in writing, registration fees are paid for participation access and Event administration and are not a purchase of a guaranteed prize, employment opportunity, investment return, certification, or other outcome. Payments may be processed by third-party payment providers. Their terms, privacy policies, and applicable processing rules may also apply. The Organizer may decline or cancel registrations where payment is unsuccessful, reversed, disputed, fraudulent, or otherwise invalid. Refund eligibility, if any, will be governed by the refund terms presented at registration and any applicable law. ## 7. Event Schedule and Recovery Windows The Organizer will publish the official Event calendar and relevant deadlines through the official Event channels. Each recovery mission may include a failure announcement, recovery briefing, development window, submission deadline, and evaluation period. Participants are responsible for monitoring official Event communications and meeting applicable deadlines. Unless the Organizer expressly extends a deadline, late submissions may be excluded from evaluation. Technical failures caused by a participant's own equipment, network connection, hosting provider, development environment, third-party service, or deployment configuration generally do not extend a submission deadline. The Organizer may extend or modify deadlines where an issue affects participants broadly or where doing so is reasonably necessary for fair administration. ## 8. Recovery Missions The Event is expected to include four principal recovery missions: **Week 1 — Restore Communication:** participants build an internet messaging or communication system. **Week 2 — Restore Navigation:** participants build a mapping, routing, or navigation system using the requirements and data provided for the mission. **Week 3 — Restore Commerce:** participants build a simplified digital marketplace or commerce platform. **Week 4 — Restore Knowledge:** participants build a search, indexing, discovery, or knowledge-retrieval system. The exact requirements, mandatory features, optional features, datasets, technical constraints, submission format, and judging criteria for each mission will be specified in the applicable mission brief. The Organizer may change, replace, combine, or cancel a mission if necessary. ## 9. Challenge Specifications Participants must follow the technical requirements stated in the applicable mission brief. A mission may specify required functionality, minimum implementation requirements, supported interfaces, deployment expectations, documentation requirements, testing requirements, security requirements, or other technical conditions. Participants are responsible for understanding the mission specification before submitting. Where a mission permits interpretation or architectural freedom, participants may choose their own implementation approach provided that the resulting system satisfies the stated requirements. The Organizer may request access to a running deployment, source code, documentation, demonstration environment, test credentials, or other materials reasonably necessary to verify a submission. ## 10. Technology and Development Tools Unless a particular mission states otherwise, DOOMS PROTOCOL is intended to be technology-agnostic. Participants may generally use programming languages, frameworks, databases, libraries, APIs, cloud services, hosting platforms, developer tools, and infrastructure of their choice, provided their use complies with applicable laws, third-party terms, open-source licenses, and the Event rules. Participants are responsible for all third-party services and resources incorporated into their submissions. ## 11. Artificial Intelligence and Developer Tools AI-assisted development may be permitted unless a particular mission explicitly restricts or prohibits it. Participants remain responsible for the functionality, originality, security, licensing, accuracy, and compliance of code or other material produced with AI assistance. Participants must not represent third-party or AI-generated work as their own original work where doing so would violate applicable licensing, attribution requirements, or the Event rules. The Organizer may require participants to disclose material use of AI systems where disclosure is relevant to the applicable judging criteria or mission rules. Use of AI does not excuse a participant from understanding and being responsible for their submitted system. ## 12. Teams and Collaboration Where team participation is permitted, each team must comply with the team-size and registration requirements published by the Organizer. A participant may not knowingly participate in multiple teams for the same mission where the applicable rules prohibit such participation. Team members are jointly responsible for ensuring that their submission complies with these Terms and the relevant mission rules. Disputes between team members are primarily the responsibility of the team. The Organizer may intervene where necessary to administer the Event but does not guarantee resolution of private disputes. ## 13. Submission Requirements A submission must be delivered through the method and before the deadline specified for the applicable mission. Depending on the mission, a submission may be required to include a working prototype, source repository, deployment URL, documentation, demonstration, architecture information, test instructions, or other supporting material. The Event is intended to evaluate functioning software. A concept, presentation, static mockup, or non-functional design alone will not satisfy a requirement for a working prototype unless the applicable mission explicitly says otherwise. Participants are responsible for ensuring that submitted links, repositories, credentials, files, and demonstrations are accessible to the judging team as required. ## 14. Ownership and Intellectual Property Except for third-party material and subject to the rights granted below, participants retain ownership of intellectual property they independently create and submit to the Event. Participants must have the necessary rights to submit all code, designs, documentation, media, datasets, assets, trademarks, libraries, and other material included in their submission. A participant must not submit material that knowingly infringes another person's intellectual property, privacy, publicity, confidentiality, or other legal rights. Where a submission incorporates open-source software or other third-party material, the participant remains responsible for complying with the applicable license. ## 15. Public Showcase and Event Promotion By participating, a participant may be asked to provide permission for the Organizer to display limited information about the submission for Event-related purposes, such as the participant or team name, project name, public repository, project description, screenshots, demonstration links, and award or recognition status. Where the Organizer requires a broader license to use participant-created materials for promotional purposes, the scope and terms of that license should be stated in the applicable registration form, submission rules, or separate consent notice. The Organizer will not acquire ownership of participant intellectual property merely because a participant enters the Event. ## 16. Public Repositories If a participant chooses to make a repository publicly accessible, the participant is responsible for deciding what information is published. Participants must not publish passwords, private API keys, payment information, personal data, private credentials, confidential information, or other sensitive information in public repositories. A public repository may be viewed, forked, copied, or used by third parties according to its applicable license and platform terms. The Organizer is not responsible for third-party use of material that a participant voluntarily makes public. ## 17. Judging and Evaluation Submissions will be evaluated using the criteria communicated for the applicable mission. Depending on the mission, evaluation may consider factors such as functional completeness, correctness, technical implementation, reliability, usability, architecture, security, performance, documentation, originality, and adherence to the mission requirements. The Organizer may use automated tests, manual review, demonstrations, technical verification, or a combination of methods. Judges may include members of the Organizer's team, invited technical reviewers, sponsors, mentors, or other individuals selected by the Organizer. Judging criteria may differ between missions. The Organizer may reject a submission that does not satisfy mandatory requirements, cannot be reasonably tested, or violates these Terms or the applicable mission rules. ## 18. Judging Decisions Judging decisions are made for the administration of the Event based on the applicable criteria and available evidence. The Organizer may request clarification, additional access, or a demonstration when reasonably necessary to evaluate a submission. The Organizer may correct an administrative or scoring error discovered after an initial announcement. Where a participant believes that an administrative error materially affected their submission, the participant may contact the Organizer through the official Event contact channel. The Organizer may review the matter at its discretion. Unless required by applicable law, judging decisions made under the published Event criteria are not subject to a general appeal process. ## 19. Weekly Recognition Each recovery mission may recognize a participant or team for successfully restoring the corresponding fictional system. Examples of narrative recognition may include: **Communication Restorer** **Navigation Restorer** **Commerce Restorer** **Knowledge Restorer** These titles are Event recognition and do not constitute government credentials, professional licenses, academic qualifications, employment offers, or official authority. The Organizer may publish a Hall of Restorers or similar Event record. ## 20. Prizes and Benefits The Organizer may, but is not required to, provide prizes, monetary awards, merchandise, certificates, sponsorship benefits, credits, opportunities, or other forms of recognition. If prizes are offered, the applicable prize details, eligibility, selection method, delivery conditions, deadlines, and any applicable tax obligations will be communicated through the official Event rules or prize announcement. Prizes may be subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Terms. If a prize becomes unavailable due to circumstances outside the Organizer's reasonable control, the Organizer may substitute an equivalent or reasonably comparable benefit where permitted by law. Participants are responsible for any taxes, duties, reporting obligations, or other charges associated with receiving a prize where applicable. A prize may not be transferred or exchanged for cash unless expressly permitted by the Organizer or required by law. ## 21. Disqualification The Organizer may disqualify a participant or team where it reasonably determines that the participant has violated these Terms, the applicable mission rules, applicable law, or the integrity of the Event. Potential grounds include cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, falsification, submission manipulation, abuse of Event infrastructure, unauthorized access, malicious activity, harassment, fraud, deliberate disruption, infringement of third-party rights, or material misrepresentation. The Organizer may also disqualify a submission that materially fails to satisfy mandatory mission requirements. Where appropriate, the Organizer may remove a submission from public displays or revoke Event recognition previously granted. ## 22. Security and Responsible Testing Participants must build and test their submissions responsibly. Participants must not attack, disrupt, overload, scan, exploit, or gain unauthorized access to the Organizer's systems, another participant's systems, Event infrastructure, third-party services, or systems unrelated to the Event. Testing must remain within the scope expressly permitted by the applicable mission. A fictional mission involving infrastructure failure does not authorize real-world attacks or unauthorized security testing. Security research, penetration testing, load testing, or vulnerability testing against third-party infrastructure is permitted only where the participant has explicit authorization from the relevant owner and the Event rules allow it. ## 23. Acceptable Conduct Participants must interact with organizers, judges, mentors, sponsors, volunteers, and other participants respectfully. Harassment, threats, discrimination, impersonation, targeted abuse, doxxing, malicious interference, fraudulent conduct, and other unlawful or seriously disruptive behavior are prohibited. The Organizer may take reasonable action in response to misconduct, including removal from communication channels, suspension, disqualification, or restriction of Event access. ## 24. Fair Play and Anti-Cheating Participants must compete honestly and comply with the rules applicable to the relevant mission. Participants must not obtain or use confidential judging information, another participant's private implementation, leaked evaluation data, unauthorized solutions, or other information obtained through prohibited means. Collaboration between participants is permitted only to the extent allowed by the mission rules. If a participant discovers a confidential submission, private credential, leaked judging material, or other sensitive Event information, they should report it to the Organizer rather than exploit or distribute it. ## 25. External APIs, Services, and Infrastructure Participants may use external APIs, hosted services, cloud infrastructure, databases, datasets, SDKs, or other third-party resources where permitted by the applicable mission. Participants are responsible for understanding the applicable service limits, pricing, licenses, privacy requirements, security obligations, and acceptable-use rules. The Organizer does not guarantee the continued availability, performance, pricing, or compatibility of third-party services. A participant should maintain reasonable fallback or demonstration arrangements where a third-party dependency is critical to the submission. ## 26. Availability, Cancellation, and Postponement The Organizer intends to conduct the Event as published but does not guarantee uninterrupted availability. The Event, individual missions, submission systems, websites, communication channels, judging periods, or prize programs may be delayed, modified, suspended, postponed, or cancelled due to circumstances including technical failures, security incidents, infrastructure outages, natural events, legal requirements, force majeure events, insufficient participation, or other circumstances beyond the Organizer's reasonable control. Where reasonably possible, the Organizer will communicate material changes through official Event channels. If the Event is cancelled, the treatment of registration fees, if any, will be determined according to the applicable registration terms and law. ## 27. Third-Party Content The Event may reference or use third-party software, datasets, trademarks, services, APIs, platforms, or content. Such references do not necessarily indicate endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation. Participants are responsible for obtaining any required permissions for third-party material included in their submissions. DOOMS PROTOCOL's fictional narrative should not be interpreted as a representation that any fictional organization, real company, government authority, entertainment property, or other third party is affiliated with or endorses the Event unless the Organizer expressly states such an affiliation. ## 28. No Employment or Professional Guarantee Participation, recognition, publication, prizes, certificates, or inclusion in an Event showcase do not guarantee employment, internships, funding, investment, academic admission, professional certification, commercial opportunities, or future participation in any program. Participants should evaluate any opportunity independently and are responsible for their own decisions following the Event. ## 29. Participant Responsibilities Participants are responsible for their own equipment, internet connection, development environment, hosting, accounts, third-party services, code, submissions, credentials, and compliance obligations. Participants should maintain backups of important work and should not rely exclusively on the Event platform or a single external service. Participants are responsible for ensuring that their participation and submissions comply with applicable law. ## 30. Limitation of Liability To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Organizer and its affiliates, partners, personnel, contractors, judges, mentors, and service providers will not be responsible for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive losses arising from participation in or inability to participate in the Event. This may include, where legally permitted, loss of data, loss of profits, loss of opportunity, business interruption, reputational loss, service interruption, or third-party service failure. Nothing in these Terms is intended to exclude or limit liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under applicable law. Any additional limitations, exclusions, or liability caps should be finalized by legal counsel based on the governing law applicable to the Event. ## 31. No Warranty To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Event and associated websites, communication channels, materials, services, and resources are provided on an “as available” basis. The Organizer does not guarantee that Event systems will always be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, compatible with every device or environment, or available at every location. The Organizer may correct errors or change Event materials as reasonably necessary. ## 32. Indemnification To the extent permitted by applicable law, a participant may be responsible for losses, claims, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses arising from the participant's unlawful conduct, material breach of these Terms, infringement of third-party rights, misuse of Event systems, or violation of applicable mission rules. The precise scope of any indemnification obligation should be reviewed and finalized by legal counsel before publication. ## 33. Privacy The Organizer's collection and use of personal information in connection with the Event is described in the **DOOMS PROTOCOL Privacy Policy**. The Privacy Policy should be read together with these Terms. Where there is a conflict between these Terms and the Privacy Policy concerning the processing of personal information, the applicable privacy notice and mandatory privacy law will govern to the extent required. ## 34. Changes to These Terms The Organizer may update these Terms where reasonably necessary to reflect changes to the Event, applicable law, security requirements, technical operations, judging procedures, or other material circumstances. Material changes may be communicated through the official Event website or other official Event channels. Where required by law, participants will be given appropriate notice or an opportunity to review the revised terms before continuing participation. The version of the Terms applicable to a participant may depend on when and how the participant registered or participated, subject to applicable law. ## 35. Governing Law and Jurisdiction These Terms are intended to be governed by the laws applicable to the Organizer and the Event. **Governing law:** [INSERT AFTER LEGAL REVIEW] **Jurisdiction / courts:** [INSERT AFTER LEGAL REVIEW] This section should be finalized by qualified legal counsel before publication. The Organizer should not rely on a generic jurisdiction clause without confirming the applicable legal requirements for the Event, participant locations, fee structure, and any prize mechanism. ## 36. Severability If any provision of these Terms is determined to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, that provision will be interpreted or limited to the extent necessary to make it enforceable where legally possible. The remaining provisions will continue to apply to the extent permitted by law. ## 37. Waiver A failure by the Organizer to enforce a provision of these Terms does not constitute a permanent waiver of that provision or of the Organizer's right to enforce it later. Any waiver should be interpreted narrowly and only to the extent expressly stated. ## 38. Entire Agreement These Terms, together with the applicable Privacy Policy, registration terms, mission briefs, submission requirements, prize rules, and other official Event rules incorporated by reference, constitute the agreement governing participation in the Event to the extent permitted by law. Where a mission-specific rule expressly conflicts with a general Event rule, the mission-specific rule will generally apply to that mission, subject to applicable law. ## 39. Contact The Organizer is: **R3actr Innovations LLP** Official Event: **DOOMS PROTOCOL** Email: **[INSERT OFFICIAL EMAIL]** Website: **[INSERT OFFICIAL WEBSITE]** Registered / official address: **[INSERT OFFICIAL ADDRESS IF REQUIRED]** For registration, payment, technical, privacy, judging, or legal questions, participants should use the relevant official Event contact channel. ## 40. Final Notice DOOMS PROTOCOL is a fictional disaster-recovery narrative wrapped around a real developer competition. The fictional **Network Continuity Authority (NCA)** exists only within the Event's story and gameplay. The real-world Event is organized and administered by **R3actr Innovations LLP**. Participation in DOOMS PROTOCOL means agreeing to follow these Terms, the applicable mission rules, and the instructions issued through official Event channels. --- **Legal review required before publication:** This document should be reviewed by qualified counsel familiar with the Organizer's jurisdiction and the jurisdictions in which participants may register. Particular attention should be given to consumer/contract law, online competitions, entry fees, prize structures, taxation, minors, intellectual property, privacy/data protection, payment processing, limitation of liability, and jurisdiction.