canada gambling lotteries south-africa
What law requires Canadian and South African citizens to do a mathematical skill test when winning promotional gifts?
<p>In the terms and conditions of a keysight promotion to win an oscilloscope, I stumbled over the following sentence:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In accordance with local laws, if the selected entrant is a Canadian or South African resident, that entrant will be required to answer a mathematical skill-testing question, without assistance of any kind (whether mechanical or otherwise), within the time frame provided above.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>What is/are the law(s) behind this, and what is that law trying to achieve?</p>

<p>From a <a href="http://www.thompsoncoburn.com/news-and-information/sweepstakes-law-blog/blog/13-06-26/what-you-need-to-know-about-canadian-sweepstakes-and-contest-regulations.aspx" rel="noreferrer">blog entry by Canadian lawyers</a> familiar with sweepstakes and contest laws:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In Canada, games of pure chance are prohibited as illegal lotteries under our Criminal Code...</p>
  
  <p>For contests of chance, making prize redemption conditional on
  answering a skill-testing question turns a game of pure chance into a
  (legal) game of mixed chance and skill. Generally, a time-limited,
  multi-step and multi-operational mathematical skill testing question,
  answered without assistance, is sufficient.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>That is under &sect;206 of the <a href="http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-49.html" rel="noreferrer">Criminal Code of Canada</a> - Offences in relation to lotteries and games of chance.</p>

<p>You will probably find similar statutes related to South Africa.</p>

<p>It's not uncommon to see "games of chance" turned into "games of skill" in order to avoid the creation of illegal lotteries.</p>
