Miss Universe 2011: Semifinalist to be chosen through Popular Vote

We are happy to announce that for the first time in the history of the MISS UNIVERSE^® Competition, the pageant is incorporating a global fan vote that may automatically advance a contestant to the semifinals. Fans residing in represented countries will be able to vote online at

www.missuniverse.com or www.NBC.com

starting on Friday, August 19, 2011 at 4pm ET through Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 6pm ET. 

The winner of the voting will get a place among this year’s 15 semi finalists.

MISS UNIVERSE 2011 “FAN VOTE” FAQs

Who can vote?

Anyone located in, and a legal resident of, the home countries of the 2011 Miss Universe contestants can cast their vote(s) for the Miss Universe contestant of their choice. To vote online, you must be 16 years of age or older.

When can I vote?

Online voting via www.missuniverse.com and www.nbc.com will be open at the following times:

Friday, August 19, 2011 at 4pm ET through Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 6pm ET.

How do I vote?

Internet voting will be open Friday, August 19, 2011 at 4pm ET through Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 6pm ET. To vote, log on to www.nbc.com or www.missuniverse.com and follow the instructions to vote and enter registration details. To register you will need to provide your email address, confirm you are 16 years of age or older, and confirm your acceptance of the voting terms and conditions. After you register, rank the contestants 1-10 where prompted, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. If done correctly, you will get a message on your screen.  The producers reserve the right to disqualify, block or remove any votes for any reason including, but not limited to, any votes from an individual who votes using any electronic, mechanical or automated means, or otherwise tampers with the vote process.  Rules and procedures are subject to change at the sole discretion of the Miss Universe Organization and/or NBC without notice.

How many times can I vote?

You may vote online up to 10 times per e-mail address per day. Any additional votes you attempt to cast above these limits – or votes cast outside of the voting window — will NOT be counted as valid. The producers reserve the right to disqualify, block or remove any votes for any reason, including those votes from any individual who votes by any electronic, mechanical or automated means, or otherwise tampers with the vote process. Rules and procedures regarding the voting promotion are subject to change at the sole discretion of the Miss Universe Organization and/or NBC without notice. No changes will be made to the rules regarding how information collected in the voting promotion — your email address and computer IP address — will be retained, secured, used, or deleted.

How are the votes tabulated?

Producer will take the average of the total votes from the IP addresses originating from each country.  Each country vote will then count as 1 vote, and be averaged with all of the other country votes to give the contestant a final score.

Example: 200 people from Canada vote for Miss Universe Norway and the average of those votes equals a 6, and 800 people from Norway vote for Miss Universe Norway          and the average of those votes equals an 8.  Canada’s country vote (6) and Norway’s country vote (8) are each counted as 1 vote and are averaged to give Miss Universe Norway a final score of 7.

How much does it cost to vote?

Voting online is free. Standard internet access charges may apply.

Why is my information collected?

Email addresses are collected to ensure compliance with the 10 votes per email address per day limit.  Your computer’s IP address is collected to verify the country of a vote’s origin.

Is my information stored?

No, nothing is permanently stored.  Email addresses are temporarily stored on a secure server based in the United States and will not be transferred to any other location.  Email addresses will be deleted within thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant. IP addresses are temporarily stored on a secure server based in the United States, and are not transferred to any other location.  All IP addresses are deleted 30 days after the conclusion of the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant.

How do I find out the results?

The results may be revealed to the home viewing audience during the Miss Universe live telecast on September 12, 2011 and may be posted on www.missuniverse.com after the show.

MISS UNIVERSE 2011 VOTING RULES

The following rules and procedures are subject to change at the sole discretion of NBCUniversal Media, LLC and Miss Universe L.P., LLLP.

1.  Producer:

Miss Universe L.P., LLLP (the “Producer”) is a United States limited partnership, limited liability limited partnership, with its headquarters located at 1370 Avenue of the Americas, 16th Floor, New York, New York 10019, United States of America.

2.  Voting Availability:

“Miss Universe” voting is open to people located in the home countries of the 2011 “Miss Universe” contestants.  A list of countries is available here http://www.missuniverse.com/members/contestants  Internet voting will be open to people sixteen [16] years of age or older.  Void where prohibited.

Internet voting will be available on the following dates and times:

August 19, 2011 at 4 p.m. ET through Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 6 p.m. ET.

Participants will be limited to ten (10) votes per email address per day.  The sole means of voting is via the internet. The Producer reserves the right to change the limit on the number of votes that may be made from each originating email address, in the Producer’s sole discretion.

3.  How to Vote:

You must be sixteen [16] years of age or older to participate.  Navigate to NBC.com or missuniverse.com, follow the links to vote, and enter the registration details.  To register, you will need to provide your email address, confirm you are 16 years of age or older, and confirm that you accept these Rules.  After you click the “vote” button, rank the contestants 1-10, 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest.  Producer will then take the average of the total votes from the IP addresses originating from each country, and each country vote will count as 1.

For full information on how to vote, please refer to the FAQs section on NBC.com and missuniverse.com.

4.  Cost of Voting:

There is no charge to vote.  Standard internet access charges may apply.

5.  Your Email Address & Computer IP Address

As part of the voting process, you will be asked to input your email address.  Email addresses voluntarily submitted by you and other participants will be stored on a secure server based in the United States..  Your email address will not be transferred to any other location.  No record of the email addresses submitted as part of the voting process will be retained more than thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the 2011 Miss Universe pageant. Your email address will not be linked on the server to any other identifying information about you.  Your email address will be used for no purpose other than to enforce the rules regarding the number of votes that may be cast per email address in a 24 hour period.

The Producer will also collect the IP address of each computer used to cast a vote.  The Producer’s purpose in collecting a computer’s IP address is to make certain the computer is located in one of the countries participating in the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant.  IP addresses will be stored on a secure server based in the United States separate and apart from the voter’s email address.  Your computer’s IP address will not be transferred to any other location.  An individual IP address will be used for no purpose other than to verify the country of a vote’s origin.  All IP addresses will be deleted entirely 30 days after the conclusion of the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant.

In accordance with these Rules, you agree to provide this limited data as part of the voting process if you choose to participate.  Voting, of course, is entirely voluntary.  If you choose not to provide your email address and your computer’s IP address, you unfortunately cannot vote.

The Producer will maintain the security of your email address and your computer’s IP address.  The only natural person who will have access to your data is the Producer’s tech supervisor who will have administrative rights.

If you have any questions or concerns about the collection, use, retention, security or deletion of your email address or computer IP address, you may contact CommerceTel at the address listed above or via email at support@txtstation.com.

If you wish to revoke your consent to having your data stored under these very limited purposes, you may contact:

Thi VanAusdal

Technical Lead

8929 Aero Drive, Suite E

San Diego, CA 92123

support@txtstation.com

In that communication, please specify your email address, your IP address, and the date and time you cast your vote, and request that your email address and computer IP address be deleted from the server.

6.  Disclaimers:

Miss Universe L.P., LLLP and NBCUniversal Media, LLC  and their respective parent, subsidiary and affiliated entities and persons (collectively, the “Administrators”) are not responsible for and shall not be liable for interrupted or unavailable networks or servers; miscommunications, failed computer hardware or software or other technical failures; garbled, lost, misrouted or scrambled transmissions; any error, omission, interruption, defect or delay in any transmission or communication; traffic congestion or for any technical problem which may cause the voting to be disrupted or corrupted.

If for any reason the voting is not capable of being executed as planned, or if there is an infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud or technical failures, or if any other causes beyond the control of Administrators corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this voting, the Administrators reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to withdraw the transmission of any vote. Furthermore, the Administrators may permanently disqualify from any promotion any person they believe has intentionally violated these rules, and to terminate or suspend voting at any point and declare the vote results based on the votes up to that point, if it appears that the voting process has been so distorted by hacking or other interference that the results would not reflect actual valid votes should the voting continue. In the event of technical difficulties with the voting, Administrators reserve the right to review the votes for accuracy and to take any appropriate action, including, without limitation, voiding the votes cast during the time period in which such technical difficulties occurred. Administrators and their respective agents, officers, directors, employees, subsidiaries and affiliates assume no responsibility for any injury or damage to participants or to any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from entering or downloading materials or software in connection with this vote. Administrators are not responsible for telecommunications, network, electronic, technical or computer failures of any kind, for inaccurate transcription of voting information, errors in any promotional or marketing materials, for any human or electronic error, or for votes that are stolen, misdirected, garbled, delayed by computer transmissions, lost, or late.

These rules are subject to change at any time at the sole discretion of the Administrators. Notification regarding any such change will be posted at missuniverse.com.

Caution: Any attempt by an entrant or any other individual to deliberately damage any online service or website, tamper with the voting process, or otherwise undermine the legitimate operation of the voting is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, Administrators reserve the right to seek damages and/or other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.

7.  Conditions for Voting:

By voting, you are agreeing to all of the terms and conditions described hereinand to abide by these Rules.  You agree not to use any unofficial, third party services to cast votes on your behalf.  Administrators reserve the right to disqualify, block or remove any votes from any individual who votes by any electronic, mechanical or automated means, or otherwise tampers with the vote process, or for any other reason, as determined by Administrators in their sole discretion.

Administrators are not responsible for any damages to voters’ device(s) that may occur from use of service. Administrators reserve the right, for any reason and in their sole discretion, to modify, suspend or discontinue the voting service without prior notice.

Administrators reserve the right to modify the show’s rules, and the terms and conditions of this voting process at any time in their sole discretion.

8.  Governing Law:

This promotion, including the collection of any email addresses or computer IP addresses, is governed by laws of the State of New York and of the United States of America without regard to any conflict of laws provisions.  If you think that you have been harmed by unlawful use or processing of your data, you may have rights under the laws of the State of New York or the United States of America.  In that case, you should consult an attorney.

I certify that (1) I have read and understand the Rules for voting; (2) I am over the age of 16 years of age; and (3) I expressly and unequivocally consent to the use of my data as outlined in these Rules.  I understand that I am currently on a webpage hosted and maintained exclusively in the United States of America and I expressly consent to the collection and retention of my email address and my computer’s IP address on a server in the United States of America, as set forth in these Rules.