Helium Rule changes, impossible to make payout level, Refusal to pay when wanting to leave! Andover Massachusetts

"I believe you might be confused as to the rules..."

For the record, Helium.com states in their user agreement that members are eligible for Ad revenue share as long as they are active participants of the community where

"'participation' is defined as maintaining a minimum of 1 rating star. (A rating star requires a minimum of 40 quality rates within the last 90-day period". This quote from the User Agreement directly invalidate CEO Mark Ranalli's claim about eligibility.

Additionally, "confusion as to the rules" is unavoidable when the user agreements state: "we reserve the right to change the program, or the conditions of participation, at any time, with or without notice to you".

The last point I would like to address is based on the stipulation towards the end of Helium's user agreement policy as of July 27 2009:

"Helium has the right to cancel your account (or any part thereof), or to exclude you from the Site, if due to fraudulent or other unacceptable activities, at any time in our sole reasonable discretion, with or without prior notice. In case of cancellation, you agree that the license granted herein to content submitted by you shall not terminate, but you will agree to forfeit all rights you may have to your Account and to any then accrued or future earnings from the Site or by Helium with respect to any material you previously submitted".

If your account is banned/blocked/canceled, you wont lose anything that was earned until that point. But you lose access to that money earned and any future money that may be earned from your articles by Helium in any way will be completely Helium's. They will keep your articles and then make money off of them after blocking your account. You can be kicked off for any reason at any time with out them telling you - and they can sell it to whomever they want with out "sharing" the profit.

Although Helium claims that by submitting content to the site, you agree that the only applicable laws they are accountable for are those relevant in Boston MA. U.S. laws apply to everyone, and Helium can cherry pick all they want to but criminal activity invalidates "contractual". Know your copyrights and if you have reason to believe Helium is acting in violation of any laws (International commerce, federal statues, and state statutes) do not hesitate to investigate it; do not be intimidated by them.

"I believe you might be confused as to the rules..."

For the record, Helium.com states in their user agreement that members are eligible for Ad revenue share as long as they are active participants of the community where

"'participation' is defined as maintaining a minimum of 1 rating star. (A rating star requires a minimum of 40 quality rates within the last 90-day period". This quote from the User Agreement directly invalidate CEO Mark Ranalli's claim about eligibility.

Additionally, "confusion as to the rules" is unavoidable when the user agreements state: "we reserve the right to change the program, or the conditions of participation, at any time, with or without notice to you".

The last point I would like to address is based on the stipulation towards the end of Helium's user agreement policy as of July 27 2009:

"Helium has the right to cancel your account (or any part thereof), or to exclude you from the Site, if due to fraudulent or other unacceptable activities, at any time in our sole reasonable discretion, with or without prior notice. In case of cancellation, you agree that the license granted herein to content submitted by you shall not terminate, but you will agree to forfeit all rights you may have to your Account and to any then accrued or future earnings from the Site or by Helium with respect to any material you previously submitted".

If your account is banned/blocked/canceled, you wont lose anything that was earned until that point. But you lose access to that money earned and any future money that may be earned from your articles by Helium in any way will be completely Helium's. They will keep your articles and then make money off of them after blocking your account. You can be kicked off for any reason at any time with out them telling you - and they can sell it to whomever they want with out "sharing" the profit.

Although Helium claims that by submitting content to the site, you agree that the only applicable laws they are accountable for are those relevant in Boston MA. U.S. laws apply to everyone, and Helium can cherry pick all they want to but criminal activity invalidates "contractual". Know your copyrights and if you have reason to believe Helium is acting in violation of any laws (International commerce, federal statues, and state statutes) do not hesitate to investigate it; do not be intimidated by them.

I'm sorry to hear that you are frustrated with some of the modifications we made to our site - but I believe you might be confused as to the rules. Helium shares Ad revenue with its members if they participate in our site rating process. We ask that our members conduct a minimum of 10 rates per month to be eligible to earn ad revenue share. This is different from the writing stars you mention in your complaint. Helium members earn writing stars based on the communities evaluation of their articles. Helium makes 'up front' payments to all starred writers, but every member is eligible for earning ad revenue share if they participate in the rating process.

Again, sorry for the confusion. We hope you return to the site and continue to write and rate.

Best,

Mark Ranalli
CEO, Helium Inc.