clyde...
In short, no. Requiring a purchase amounts to causing a person
to pay to participate, which puts the contest in the category
of a lottery, where a price is charged to enter.
This is borne out by this (lengthy) page on California
Gambling Laws on the Gambling-Law-US website:
"...a contest in which participation is conditioned on payment
of value and in which prizes are awarded primarily by chance
is a lottery rather than a contest. Under California law,
only the California State Lottery may operate a lottery.
All other lotteries, except bingo games operated by charitable
organizations, are prohibited by California's Penal Code."
...and:
"RULES FOR OPERATION OF SWEEPSTAKES
(Business and Professions Code Sections 17539.5, 17539.15,
17539.55)
A 'sweepstakes' is any procedure for distributing anything
of value by lot or chance. A sweepstakes must not violate
any provision of law, including the law that prohibits
lotteries.
Consumers often confuse sweepstakes, lotteries and contests.
The main difference between a sweepstakes and a lottery is
that the lottery participants have paid or promised to pay
value for the chance to win the prize."
For further information:
"Legal Guides on the rules prohibiting lotteries and the
rules for promotional giveaways are available from the
California Department of Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 310,
Sacramento, CA 95802, or through the department's homepage
at www.dca.ca.gov"
Much more on the page:
http://www.gambling-law-us.com/State-Laws/California/
Here's the specific page on sweepstakes laws on the California
Department of Consumer Affairs website:
http://www.dca.ca.gov/legal/u-3.html
Another excellent overview on the topic, in an article titled
'How to Create Win-Win Sweepstakes on the Internet, Legally',
by Jonathan Ezor, is available on the following page on the
GigaLaw website, and covers all the bases for running a
legitimate and successful sweepstakes:
http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/2000-all/ezor-2000-06-all.html
Practices which you can see are common to almost every
sweepstakes are, for example:
No purchase necessary to enter (alternate entry procedure
provided).
No one under 18 is eligible to participate.
Entrants limited to the following geographical areas:
must reside in the continental United States.
Employees aren't eligible to participate.
Odds of winning are based on the number of entrants,
but are estimated to be...
...and so on.
That should get you going, but, as Jonathan Ezor notes, you
would be wise to "Have counsel knowledgeable in advertising
and promotions laws review your original promotion rules and
procedures...".
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
A user's guide on this topic is on skermit-ga's site, here:
http://www.christopherwu.net/google_answers/answer_guide.html#how_clarify
sublime1-ga
Additional information may be found from an exploration of
the links resulting from the Google searches outlined below.
Searches done, via Google:
"california law" sweepstakes
://www.google.com/search?q=%22california+law%22+sweepstakes
"sweepstakes law" internet
://www.google.com/search?q=%22sweepstakes+law%22+internet
"sweepstakes law" california
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