-International writers can no longer participatein helium-are you aware of this?

I am based in the US, so I was not aware of the situation at all. It's too bad because sometimes I really enjoy reading different perspectives. Hopefully it is a sign that Helium has plans to expand its reach to other countries. For those who are stuck right now, sorry to hear that. I've only recently put a lot more effort into writing for Helium, and now I am doing pretty well over there. I hope that everyone can continue to enjoy reading and writing at Helium.

Kala, I just now logged in (I am in India) and I have not faced any problem! Any how, I will post your message in Helium discussion board and try to get an answer. CVR

Though I am a member of Helium, yet I rarely log in to that site. I did not like its format and it did not appear user friendly to me (opinions may differ on this account, from person to person). I am sorry to hear that people like us are no longer permitted to use it. If someone has already contributed handsomely to that site, it will be very disappointed and disheartening for him/her. Wait for few days, things might change. I feel that you have written a lot of articles on Helium?

I am a helium member but I am not aware of the latest announcement. I am not actively participating in helium this days because am not earning a lot there. If you will mot maintain the rating star, you will not be paid upfront. I have not time to rate that very long articles so I am not there all the time. As to that international users, I did not read about that yet. Sorry to hear that...

Kindly post the link to this "announcement" that you are supposed to have read. There has been no announcement by Heium about this as far as I can tell. Check Helium's blog here. http:heliumblog.wordpress.com/ Check the forum section of Helium where they post their annoucements http://www.helium.com/smf/index.php?board=3.0 Just what are you trying to achieve here by telling a lie that can easily be disproved?

I am from the Philippines and I just earned my first writing star and now I can't write.

I think that it would be far better to have an international site including everyone just like wonderful My Lot. It would be difficult to have a Helium for every country in the world. Some nations in the South Pacific are small so not well known compared a countries like Japan and Germany that everyone has heard about. A Swiss writer might write in French, German or Italian so appeal to either the Helium France, Helium Germany or Helium Italy. A Colombian writer would write in Spanish and so readers would come from Spain, Peru and Chile. Maybe it will make Helium a little less popular.

Hi kalav56! I just responded to another discussion about article writing and I decided to try it out now on AC and helium. Now that I have read your discussion, this is bad news, I have not started yet and my plan was shoot out. LOL! But maybe if helium will come out of exclusive for each country, then it might be a good idea for all. However, I am not that sure if there will be one here in my country. Take care and have a wonderful day! lovelots..faith

Hi kalav, yes i agree that they have changed their announcement. i think it is for all those outside USA , UK and Europe. I mailed the Helium team and they confirmed this saying that they were reconstructing the site region wise and that it is underway and may take a few days, so let us wait and watch. I had just reached a 3 star writing status and 5 star rating status and had a balance of 30+ dollars in my account, so naturally i feel very apprehensive, but i am hopeful that they will reopen the site for our region

Hello kalav! I am from the Philippines and I'm still able to log on to helium. I can still rate and just this morning, I was able to get my payment. I will be reading the link you posted about that announcement. I sure do hope that all the members get a formal memo of helium's plan. I have just started writing at helium and I sure don't want to miss any more opportunity not to. Thanks! Good discussion!

I would like to share some updates with you all (these are based on some private message I had with Helium authorities): 1) Helium is selectively banning membership of some of non-US writers, whose writing, according to Helium, are not adequately fitting to the standards of expectations of US readers (who are the majority). The ban is NOT across the board, but only selective. 2) Technically, this block (or permitting entry), is currently is done by identifying the specific member's IP Address. This explains why I am able to log in from my home computer but not from Bangalore! So, if some of you are attempting to log Helium from a different computer than from what you normally use, perhaps you get blocked. Please check this out. 2) It looks Helium does not want to open a Pandora's box by making it an official announcement, because they will be flooded with lots of objections in discussion boards. 3) It looks Helium is seriously addressing all other natural concerns of blocked members(accumulated earnings etc). But the details are yet to be worked out. We have to wait for a while to get these things clear. 4) It looks Helium's idea of opening different "region specific Heliums" is not likely in the near future. I have been asked to wait for a few days before things can be made more clear. If I get more updates, I will keep you informed.

I came to Bangalore and when I logged to helium from here, I too am getting the message. Perhaps they are now exapanding this ban to all Non US members (old and new) gradually.

I posted the problem in Helium discussion board and got the following, not-so-clear, diplomatically worded reply from Janice Brand: "As the note says on the pop-up page for some trying to access the site, we realized that Helium is not optimized for all writers in all parts of the world. It didn't make sense to us to continually frustrate all members as we tried to accommodate every one. We are indeed working towards offering versions of Helium that all can enjoy, but the former message seemed to give the impression that this was imminent. We are currently evaluating the impact of this has on a few existing members and we will settle them on an individual basis in the coming weeks." I have again asked for detailed clarification.

it sure doesn't look good. i think it has been touted as one of the biggest community based...anyway, yes, i experienced the drawback. it's about a week now i think. i thought helim was that prestigious. it's disappointing since even institutions here in a third world country like the philippines, if properly managed; always have an alternative, had set aside enough fundings so as not to disappoint the crowd it caters. not to mention a specific time or at least a time target informing its subscribers when it would be back. that helium expansion thing was a bad move or something bad was existing there already that people from other parts of the world, who probably has a bigger share of internet subscirbers than in united states were let down. i think my efforts there were just wasted. i have a marketplace article i'm about to submit. 3 of my articles that are bound to be passed there, i just submitted to three other sites.