Pixelotto Has Arrived, But Is It Legal?

Thanks to Leonard of 9tin20.com for the email head ups on this. Alex Tew, the 21-year-old student from a small town in England who created the Million Dollar Homepage, has launched Pixelotto. The site started on Tuesday, December 5th and has already sold $124,300 of pixel advertising. The big selling point about Pixelotto is you get a chance to win $1 million.

With 10 clicks per day, the more days you play, the more chances you will have. You will be accumulating entries from your clicks right up until the draw takes place.

A month after all the ad space is sold, one ad is selected at random and a winner is chosen from all those people who clicked that correct ad. A millionaire is made! The winner will also get to nominate a charity of their choice to receive $100,000.

Sounds all well and good but I’m wondering if this is legal? For it won’t be in Canada because lotteries are controlled by the government. On the site’s FAQ, Alex states:

Pixelotto is legal in the UK, where Pixelotto Ltd. is registered. If you are from a country other than the UK, it is your responsibility to know if it is unlawful in your jurisdiction.

The problem with the above statement is it’s misleading. Pixelotto Ltd. is a legal company but it doesn’t answer the question whether a private company can hold a lottery. Of course, Tew can argue that this is a contest and not a lottery. However, the name chosen for the site may cause some problems. It will be interesting to see what the UK government thinks about this.

I’m going to assume that Tew did his homework and Pixelotto will have no problems. I’m also going to assume that Tew will work the same marketing magic on this site as he did on the Million Dollar Homepage. Judging by how fast the pixels are selling, I say Tew has another winner on his hands.