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Alexa Voice Service Program Requirements

These Program Requirements are part of the Amazon Developer Services Agreement (the "Agreement"). Capitalized terms used, but not defined, in these Program Requirements have the meanings given in the Agreement. You must ensure that you and all of your AVS Products and AVS Components (if applicable) comply with these Program Requirements at all times. These Program Requirements will continue to apply for so long as the Alexa Service is available through your AVS Products or AVS Components. For AVS Products that connect to the Alexa Service via the Amazon Alexa mobile application, references below to the Alexa Service include the Amazon Alexa mobile application, as applicable.

  1. General Product Requirements
  2. Alexa Service Requirements
  3. Notifying End Users of Voice Streaming
  4. Branding Requirements
  5. Miscellaneous Requirements
  6. Amazon Music Requirements
  7. Audible Requirements
  8. Alexa Communications Requirements
  9. Third Party Music and Radio Requirements
  10. Approved Territories

1. General Product Requirements

You must comply with the Alexa Device Requirements.

2. Alexa Service Requirements

You agree that in connection with your (and your AVS Products’ and, if applicable, AVS Components’) use of the Alexa Service:

  1. your AVS Product or AVS Component will transmit audio or other content intended for the Alexa Service directly to the Alexa Service immediately upon recording or receiving such content;
  2. your AVS Product or AVS Component will transmit audio or other content delivered by the Alexa Service directly to the end user immediately upon receipt of the content;
  3. you will not collect or store copies of any audio, transcripts, voice, metadata or other content either intended for or delivered by the Alexa Service;
  4. you will not disable, obscure, replace, add to, or modify any content intended for or delivered by the Alexa Service or otherwise impair, disrupt or interfere with the performance of the Alexa Service;
  5. you will not transmit any content intended for or delivered by the Alexa Service to or through a proxy server or any destination other than your AVS Product or AVS Component and the Alexa Service;
  6. you will not use the Alexa Service for the purpose of monitoring, and will not monitor, the availability, performance, or functionality of any of Amazon’s products or services; however, you will implement in your AVS Products the collection of any usage metrics or related data that we may require for reporting purposes and will report such metrics or data to us;
  7. if we allow your AVS Products to cache data received from the Alexa Service, you must ensure the data is refreshed at the interval we specify;
  8. if you stop using the Alexa Service or if you no longer participate in the Alexa Voice Service Program, you must delete all information about an end user you have received from the Alexa Service, unless you have received explicit consent from the end user to retain such data;
  9. you will delete all data you receive from us or collect through use of the Alexa Service concerning an end user if we or the end user asks you to do so, and will provide an easily accessible mechanism for end users to make that request. We may require you to delete data you receive from us if you violate these requirements or any other terms of the Agreement;
  10. you will display or otherwise provide to end users, and not otherwise remove, modify or obscure, any attributions, copyright information and other notices, terms and conditions that we may provide to you or that you may be required to provide to end users including based on your use of third party "open source" software or other third party intellectual property in any of your AVS Products or AVS Components;
  11. you will not combine any AVS Materials with any software or other materials that are subject to licenses or restrictions (e.g., open source software licenses) that, when combined with the AVS Materials, would require us to disclose, license, distribute or otherwise make all or any part of such AVS Materials available to anyone;
  12. you will not remove, disable, circumvent or interfere with any of the features or functionality we make available through the Alexa Service for AVS Products or AVS Components;
  13. you will not facilitate or provide access to the Alexa Service through any means other than through the authentication methods we specify, and you will not disable, circumvent or avoid any security device, mechanism or protocol of the Alexa Service;
  14. your AVS Product or AVS Component must be capable of receiving over-the-air updates that allow for authorized software updates to be securely distributed;
  15. you will promptly (and in any event within any timeframes we expressly specify) update your AVS Products or AVS Components with any updates we require to any AVS Materials incorporated into your AVS Products or AVS Components and you will enable and not prevent or interfere with any over-the-air updates we require to such AVS Materials;
  16. you will not use or allow the use of any wake word or other trigger word as part of accessing the Alexa Service in your AVS Products other than the wake or trigger words authorized by Amazon (currently "Alexa");
  17. you will not allow an end user of your AVS Product to access the Alexa Service through your AVS Product during a voice communication occurring on or through your AVS Product (such as a phone call) without Amazon’s prior written approval, and any such implementation may be subject to additional terms and conditions;
  18. you will be solely responsible for determining and complying with any applicable legal, regulatory or policy restrictions or requirements related to your AVS Products or AVS Components or the design, manufacturing, marketing, offer for sale, sale, distribution, use, and operation thereof, including without limitation U.S. and any other applicable export control and trade laws;
  19. you will not (i) misrepresent your identity or the origin of your AVS Product or AVS Component, (ii) mask your usage in connection with your use of the Alexa Service, or (iii) provide your developer credentials to any third party;
  20. you will not charge any fees to any end user for access to or use of AVS Materials or the Alexa Service (e.g., subscription fees for the Alexa Service) or any portion thereof, however you may charge for your AVS Products and AVS Components;
  21. if your AVS Product includes a visual display (including a companion application with a visual display), the visual display must include a link to the Amazon Alexa companion application;
  22. you may not use the Alexa Service for any activity where the use or failure of the Alexa Service could lead to death, injury, or property damage; and
  23. you must implement all reasonable security measures to ensure that no third party may gain unauthorized access to the Alexa Service, any AVS Materials, or any audio or content transmitted via any AVS Product or AVS Component.

3. Notifying End Users of Voice Streaming

  1. Your AVS Product must provide either (i) a prominent visual cue (e.g., a light or LED if your AVS Product is hardware, or a microphone icon or voice chrome if your AVS Product is software) to end users for the duration of the time your AVS Product is recording for the purpose of streaming to the Alexa Service (a "AVS Visual Indicator"), or (ii) a "wake up sound" and "end of request sound" that plays when your AVS Product begins and ends recording for the purpose of streaming to the Alexa Service (which sounds you may allow end users to disable) (an "AVS Audio Indicator"). The AVS Visual Indicator and AVS Audio Indicator must comply with our design guidelines, our brand and animation requirements and must be used solely to signify an end user’s interaction with the Alexa Voice Service).

  2. You will provide end users a reasonably prominent notice describing how to open and close recording for the purpose of streaming to the Alexa Service. For instance, your notice may describe that (i) the end user presses a button to start the recording, holds the button down during speech, and releases the button to end the recording, or (ii) the end user presses and releases a button to start the recording and presses and releases the button again to end the recording. This description may be included in a user manual or other printed document included with your AVS Product, or may be provided electronically as part of the setup of your AVS Product or the Alexa Service.

4. Branding Requirements

Your AVS Product or AVS Component must not have a product name, description, domain name, logo or any other branding that includes, is a variant of, or is confusingly similar to "Alexa", "Echo," "Amazon" or another Amazon trademark or logo. Your AVS Product must not have a form factor, design or light ring that is confusingly similar to Amazon devices, including the Amazon Echo family of devices.

5. Miscellaneous Requirements

We may require you to submit your AVS Products or AVS Components to us for review and approval in connection with any proposed or actual distribution of (or otherwise making available use of) your AVS Products or AVS Components to any end users. Distribution may also require that you enter into additional agreements with providers of a third party service.

6. Amazon Music Requirements

If you enable access to Amazon Music in your AVS Products using the Alexa Service, then you must comply with the requirements set forth below.

6.1 Your AVS Product; Approval

Your AVS Product must be a device and not a mobile application (e.g., an iOS or Android application), although a companion application used to control your AVS Product may be permitted. You must submit your AVS Product to us for review and approval in connection with any proposed or actual distribution of (or otherwise making available use of) your AVS Product to any end users. We will approve or reject the use of Amazon Music in your AVS Product in our sole discretion. If we reject use of Amazon Music in your AVS Product or if you do not submit your AVS Product for approval, we may disable access to Amazon Music in your AVS Product.

6.2 General Product Requirements

You and your AVS Product may only access the Amazon Music service to enable eligible Amazon customers to listen to Amazon Music content using your AVS Product, and for no other purpose. You agree that in connection with your (and your AVS Product’s) use of the Alexa Service you and your AVS Product must not:

  1. present any advertising to an end user during or otherwise in connection with the playback of Amazon Music content;
  2. integrate Amazon Music or any Amazon Music content with a third party music service or any third party music content (except for features and domains we make available through the Alexa Service for your AVS Product);
  3. co-brand the Amazon Music service (except you may use your brand on your AVS Product and a permitted companion application used to control your AVS Product);
  4. incorporate Amazon Music into a game experience, including trivia quizzes; or
  5. synchronize Amazon Music content with videos, photos or other visual media (e.g., a slideshow synchronized with Amazon Music content) other than visual media provided by Amazon specifically for this purpose.

6.3 Technical Requirements

  1. Offline playback of Amazon Music content is not permitted.
  2. You and your AVS Product must not copy Amazon Music content and must implement all reasonable security measures to prevent end users from copying Amazon Music content. You must contact us via e-mail at the e-mail address specified for giving notice to us in the Agreement if you become aware of copying of or unauthorized access to Amazon Music content.
  3. Your AVS Product must support progressive download in order to enable playback of an end user’s personal music stored in our locker service. Your AVS Product must support HTTP Live Streaming (HLS v4) in order to enable playback of Amazon Music content.
  4. Your AVS Product must create HTTPS connections for streaming music content utilizing TLS 1.2 or newer.
  5. Your AVS Product must not cache more than 20 seconds of Amazon Music content. Content must not ever be cached on non-volatile storage (e.g., only in dynamic RAM, not written to disk or static RAM). After playback, cached audio data must be flushed from memory.
  6. Retransmission of audio to a separate device from your AVS Product is allowed if the receiving device follows all the same technical and general product requirements for Amazon Music. Transmission over Bluetooth and analog audio connections is acceptable. Transmission over wired digital connections must be protected with High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) where the hardware support is available (for example, HDMI, DVI, or DisplayPort). Wired digital connections without HDCP are allowed over S/PDIF. Transmission over wireless connections other than Bluetooth (for example, WiFi 802.11) must be encrypted with HTTPS/TLS 1.2 or newer.

7 Audible Requirements

If you enable access to the Audible service in your AVS Product using the Alexa Service, then you must comply with the requirements set forth below.

7.1 Your AVS Product; Approval

If your AVS Product is an application (e.g., an iOS or Android application), your AVS Product must have a primary purpose other than the playback of digital media and you must submit your AVS Product to us for review and approval in connection with any proposed or actual distribution of (or otherwise making available use of) your AVS Product to any end users. We will approve or reject the use of the Audible service in your AVS Product in our sole discretion. If we reject use of the Audible service in your AVS Product or if you do not submit your AVS Product for approval, we may disable access to the Audible service in your AVS Product.

7.2 General Product Requirements

You and your AVS Product may only access the Audible service to enable eligible customers to listen to audio content delivered through the Audible service ("Audible Content") from their existing Audible digital content library, and for no other purpose. You agree that in connection with your (and your AVS Product’s) use of the Alexa Service you and your AVS Product must not:

  1. present any advertising to an end user during or otherwise in connection with the playback of Audible Content;
  2. integrate the Audible service or any Audible Content with a third party media distribution or playback service or any third party media (except for features we make available through the Alexa Service for your AVS Product);
  3. co-brand the Audible service (except you may use your brand on your AVS Product and a permitted companion application used to control your AVS Product); or
  4. synchronize Audible Content with video, photos or other visual media (e.g., a slideshow or game synchronized with Audible Content) other than visual media provided by Amazon specifically for this purpose.

7.3 Technical Requirements

  1. Offline playback of Audible Content is not permitted.
  2. You and your AVS Product must not copy Audible Content and must implement all reasonable security measures to prevent end users from copying Audible Content. You must contact us via e-mail at the e-mail address specified for giving notice to us in the Agreement if you become aware of copying of or unauthorized access to Audible Content.
  3. Your AVS Product must support HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) in order to enable playback of Audible Content.
  4. Your AVS Product must not cache more than 20 seconds of Audible Content. Content must not ever be cached on non-volatile storage (e.g., only in dynamic RAM, not written to disk or static RAM). After playback, cached audio data must be flushed from memory.

8 Alexa Communications Requirements

Communications functionality available through the Alexa Service includes calling, messaging, Drop In, announcements, and other features (“Alexa Communications”). If you enable access to any Alexa Communications feature in your AVS Product, then you must comply with the requirements set forth below.

8.1 Your AVS Product; Approval

Your AVS Product must be a device and not a mobile application (e.g., an iOS or Android application). You must submit your AVS Product to us for review and approval in connection with any proposed or actual distribution of (or otherwise making available use of) your AVS Product to end users. We may approve or reject the availability of any Alexa Communications feature in your AVS Product in our sole discretion. You may not distribute (or otherwise make available use of) your AVS Product to any end users unless and until we have approved your AVS Product for distribution.

8.2 General Product Requirements

You and your AVS Product may only access Alexa Communications to enable eligible end users to use Alexa Communications on or through your AVS Product, and for no other purpose.

8.3 Technical Requirements

  1. You and your AVS Product must not collect or store copies of, or access, any communication, including calls and messages, made through Alexa Communications.
  2. You and your AVS Product must not access or use any end user information, content, or materials derived from any use of Alexa Communications (such as end-user contacts, messages, or call log data).
  3. You and your AVS product will incorporate adequate technical measures that prevent the Alexa Service from recording audio from non-Alexa users during a communication, unless Amazon provides prior written approval that these measures are not necessary.
  4. You and your AVS Product must comply with applicable accessibility laws and regulations, including where applicable, the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010.

9 Third Party Music and Radio Requirements

If you enable access to third party music or radio services in your AVS Products using the Alexa Service, then you must comply with the following requirements. Your AVS Product must not be a mobile device or mobile application (e.g., an iOS or Android application), although a companion application used to control your AVS Product may be permitted. You must submit your AVS Product to us for review and approval in connection with any proposed or actual distribution of (or otherwise making available use of) your AVS Product to any end users. You may not distribute (or otherwise make available use of) your AVS Product to any end users unless and until we have approved your AVS Product for distribution. Use of TuneIn is subject to the applicable provisions of TuneIn’s terms of use located at http://tunein.com/api-terms, to the extent those terms are not inconsistent with the Agreement.

10 Approved Territories

Unless otherwise approved by us in writing, you may not distribute, sell, or market for sale AVS Products outside the following territories:

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Colombia*
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Mexico
  • New Zealand
  • Netherlands*
  • Spain
  • United States
  • United Kingdom

* Prior to distributing, selling, or marketing for sale AVS Products in these territories, developers must submit a request to avs-row-interest@amazon.com to obtain Amazon’s approval.