Sweepstakes Location Notes

Eligibility.
The Sweepstakes is open to legal U.S. and U.K. residents 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Employees, officers and directors of BellaOnline, Sponsors and Promoters, their respective parents, subsidiaries, and agents, their immediate families (defined as parents, spouses, children, siblings and grandparents) and those with whom such persons are domiciled are NOT eligible. Any prize won by a minor will be awarded to minor's parent or legal guardian. By participating, entrants agree to abide by these Official Rules, including all eligibility requirements, and the decisions of BellaOnline. All of BellaOnline's decisions are final and binding in all respects. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of an online entrant, entries made online will be deemed made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. Potential winners may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder for that e-mail address. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet service provider, online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain.

United States
We have confirmed with Florida, New York and Rhode Island that our sweepstakes are fully available to their residents. These three states were the 3 most restrictive states in the US and the last we were working on. We now have permission from all 50 states to offer our sweepstakes to their residents.

United Kingdom
The UK gaming commission website states: "There is nothing in the legislation which makes it illegal, or seeks to prevent, British residents gambling on the Internet from their own homes. ... There are no licensing or registration requirements or any restriction on who can run a prize competition or ‘free draw’. The rules and conduct of the competition or ‘free draw’ are solely the responsibility of those running the promotion. These schemes are of course subject to the more general laws on fraud, theft, deception etc." Follow up email messages in Mar 04 have verified that our free-play sweepstakes are valid in the UK.

Canada
I've written to all provinces in Canada (the gaming commissions) and *none* have responded to me at all. I'll try writing them again but until I get permission from them, I'm not legally allowed to offer the sweepstakes to residents in those provinces.

Other Locations
I have not found the proper authorities in other countries to contact about granting our website permission to interact with their residents. If you have information about the proper gaming authority to contact, please Contact BellaOnline.