(ot)photobucket heads up

[Ice-9]

This is a really poor show on photobuckets behalf, nearly all my picture posts are hosted there. $400 wow,

[EBK]

Because idle speculation amuses me:
I have to really wonder if the $400 was really motivated by something other than immediate profit.  In other words, maybe they actually do not want people to pay it at all....
Perhaps they have some other plan for their server/cloud space and need to free it up first.  Stopping third-party accesses let's them more easily determine inactive accounts, and the $400 ensures that more accounts will become inactive, or better yet, actively deregistered by the user.  The price tag may reflect their reluctance to keep any particular account, making it roughly the equivalent of saying, "Fine, we'll keep storing your stupid pics if you pay us... a million trillion dollars."

[robthequiet]

Oh, and they're picky about adblockers. Many sites do this, but completely blocking access if you use an adblocker in your browser doesn't do them any good. I never clicked on a popup ad ever. Small discrete ads inline are OK, but in-your-face popups are annoying. Especially if there is auto-play video involved.

I agree that it is some kind of business plan to get rid of an unprofitable unit and ream as many suckers as they can on the way down. Good riddance. How many ads do they expect to serve now? Even if 10 suckers are dumb enough to give them 400$?

Otoh, it does cost money to pay for server space and connectivity, so maybe we should make sure that the better guys like postimage don't go out of business. I pay maybe 8$ / mo to self host, but I get email and web space and reliable service. It's just easier to use a dedicated photo service, Imgur in my case.

[davent]

Someone ate my steak...
dave

[davent]

Imgur.

I'm shopping around and from Imgur's Terms of Service -

http://imgur.com/tos

...Also, don't use Imgur to host image libraries you link to from elsewhere, content for your website, advertising, avatars, or anything else that turns us into your content delivery network. If you do – and we will be the judge – or if you do anything illegal, in addition to any other legal rights we may have, we will ban you along with the site you're hotlinking from, delete all your images, report you to the authorities if necessary, and prevent you from viewing any images hosted on Imgur.com. We mean it.

dave

[robthequiet]

Imgur.


I'm shopping around and from Imgur's Terms of Service -

http://imgur.com/tos

...Also, don't use Imgur to host image libraries you link to from elsewhere, content for your website, advertising, avatars, or anything else that turns us into your content delivery network. If you do – and we will be the judge – or if you do anything illegal, in addition to any other legal rights we may have, we will ban you along with the site you're hotlinking from, delete all your images, report you to the authorities if necessary, and prevent you from viewing any images hosted on Imgur.com. We mean it.

dave

I haven't had any trouble yet, but I'm also not putting a precious library of artwork up there. Like many TOSs, they probably reserve the right to enforce or not. They may be smarter than Photobucket, too.

[davent]

Once bitten twice shy.
dave

[pinkjimiphoton]

THEY SUCK THEY SUCK, AND NOT ONLY THAT?

THEY SUCK

[pinkjimiphoton]

log into botophucket and click library. at least for now they will let you download stuff

i tried right clicking davent's avatar to view image, and i got the ransomware pic

[pinkjimiphoton]

for the sake of humor, i present:
pink jimi

Chat Conversation Start
1M people like this including ************ and 11 friends
Camera/Photo
11:36am
just wanna let you know how dissappointed i am that you are trying to extort 400 bux a year out of people to "host" images on third party websites.... as if you're not getting enough revenue with all the ads and crap and the sheer volume of traffic you end up with.
400 bux is not affordable, its ass-rape and highway robbery.
i post...well, USED to post... stuff that helped the internet community. damned near every picture in my bucket is being used to help others. i don't make any money off that shit.
i give all my designs away. schematics, layouts, related pictures etc... to electronics and music enthusiasts. now with a dumb policy change i'm expected to pay for it?
not gonna @#$%ing happen. honestly, you guys should be ashanmed. i am well aware of bandwidth. i will host shit from my own website and pan your "service" to all i meet unless you have a reasonable solution.
at this point i am really pissed off at you guys. none of this crap was part of the TOS when i signed up for it.
very scummy practice. affordable, my asss. i clicked your stupid link and was gonna actually consider paying you... until i realized how ridiculous it is to do so at that rate. i can buy a @#$%in godaddy domain for less than 1/10th of that.

i doubt i will hear back from you or your "support".

for shame.
and believe me, i WILL spread the word about how lame this is.

botophucket:

Hi Jimi,

Thank you for messaging us, but there is no need for foul language. We are not holding anyone's photos ransom and you can access them at any time when you are logged into your account. If you have any questions about your account or terms of use, please let us know.

Thanks,

pink's inevitable and predictable reply... no fellatio involved 

YOU GUYS SUCK. period. this is bullshit. a lot of pissed off people at you guys.
400 bux for images to show up isn't ransomware? my phat pink ass.

[davent]

The photo's may not be being held ransom but the 'links' that were the only reason for hosting a picture there in the first place are at the mercy of a ransom payment.  From their email -

TO RESTORE YOUR 3RD PARTY HOSTED IMAGES,
PLEASE UPGRADE TO A PLUS 500 PLAN.

That's a polite ransom demand.

dave

[davent]

This all sure reinforces my love of books, magazines, paper, i never get enough of those.
dave

[EBK]

You guys should make parody versions of that Photobucket picture for your new avatar pics.

[pinkjimiphoton]

i got the email to inform me they were implementing these changes about 12 hours after i bitched them out.

keep on 'em with social media is probably the only solution. i been slamming them on facebook and twitter

[duck_arse]

Imgur.

I'm shopping around and from Imgur's Terms of Service -

http://imgur.com/tos

...Also, don't use Imgur to host image libraries you link to from elsewhere, content for your website, advertising, avatars, or anything else that turns us into your content delivery network. If you do – and we will be the judge – or if you do anything illegal, in addition to any other legal rights we may have, we will ban you along with the site you're hotlinking from, delete all your images, report you to the authorities if necessary, and prevent you from viewing any images hosted on Imgur.com. We mean it.

dave

does imgurs [I also have a free account there (so should probably know the answer)] TaC also include the line 'we can change these terms at our whim, and youse will be stuffed when we do'?

I think I am on record hereabouts as not liking photobucket. I've had a few issues with their - ahem - methods.

[pinkjimiphoton]

imgur won't let you do it. postimage.org may.

my latest facebook rant on this. photobucket doesn't like me. i tried to download my library and they will not let me.
if that ain't ransome, i dunno what is.

perhaps i should turn them in to the FBI over this one.

#PhotobucketRansomware #BoycottPhotobucket #PhotobucketSucks #FourHundredDollarsIsNotAffordable
#AssRape #Piracy #highwayRobbery #Liars #Greed
and they don't let you download your albums like they say they will, and the images will NOT be displayed even when clicking thru to the links on  Photobucket..even when logged in. truth is, they suck, and people should avoid them. you can buy your own domain for 1/10th what they are trying to charge, and stream all your stuff any time you want.
give Photobucket what they deserve. nothing. download your stuff, close your account and move on. they will sell your stuff to the highest bidder, just like @Facebook does. read their updated tos on https://photobucket.com

scum suckin city!! pass this shit on!!! no more getting screwed by these jerks!! they say they aren't ransomware... but if you want to see your stuff continue to be displayed, they ask nicely for money. so they are a #POLITE #RANSOMWARE at best

[pinkjimiphoton]

if someone is holding your files hostage and will only release them for  money, is that not ransomware? especially if they trick you into letting them have the access to your files with promises of a service? i think the @FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation should check out @Photobucket's latest plan to charge people 400 dollars a year to display images they posted over the last 14 years.  #Ransomware

time to make some popcorn

[robthequiet]

From the look of it they were having various issues even before the change,

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23photobucket&src=typd

[ElectricDruid]

If you lot are even half way indicative of the level of "customer satisfaction" they're seeing, I think they're going to be internet history in a very short time.

T.

[EBK]

if someone is holding your files hostage and will only release them for  money, is that not ransomware? especially if they trick you into letting them have the access to your files with promises of a service? i think the @FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation should check out @Photobucket's latest plan to charge people 400 dollars a year to display images they posted over the last 14 years.  #Ransomware

time to make some popcorn

FTC would be better to contact, by the way.  They deal with consumer protection and unfair/deceptive business practices. Just saying.