Important notice - Photobucket image posting problem - Page 2

natman · July 8, 2017, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stagpanther

There's a beautiful irony in this: photobucket maintains a placeholder image which essentially solicits new business--they are the ones benefitting from 3rd party hosting without an agreement at this point. LOL

I see your point, but I don't think Photobucket's pirate flag is going to solicit much new business. It says "We don't care about our customers and we'll happily screw you over if we think we can make a buck out of it."

My account, which I've had for over a decade, was cut off today. I've only used it for casual posting of pictures on various forums. So it appears that they intend to cut off everybody, its just taking them a while to find them all.

I can understand if PB decided that the cost of providing the bandwidth necessary was too much. It would have been one thing if they'd issued an explanatory email and said "Sorry, but you can't use PB for 3rd party hosting from now on. But to just suddenly cut it off without warning and to charge such an extortionate rate to restore it is unacceptable.

What a public relations disaster.

Elkins45 · July 9, 2017, 08:26 AM

Part of the real kick in the pants is the amount. I don't mind paying for services, but $399 is way more then the amount of service they provide for me. I'm posting a handful of the images and a handful of forms, not running a major website.

I think Photobucket has essentially destroyed their business with this move.

stagpanther · July 9, 2017, 08:40 AM

Interesting--my account was supposed to be deleted as of today--but I just logged on and they are still showing all my pictures. Some kind of "snatch and grab" maybe?

natman · July 9, 2017, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stagpanther

Interesting--my account was supposed to be deleted as of today--but I just logged on and they are still showing all my pictures. Some kind of "snatch and grab" maybe?

Just wait. My account was limited because of "excessive usage". In the 10+ years I've used Photobucket, I've used 9% of the 2GB limit. Most of those pictures were linked to auctions that have been gone for years or forum posts that by now are either deleted or dormant. I probably have 2 or 3 PB photos in active threads. So there's no lower limit to activity, they plan on cutting off all 3rd party hosting unless you pay the ransom.

stagpanther · July 9, 2017, 12:34 PM

My guess is way down in the fine print they retain some commercial use of my images--even if I terminate my relationship with them. This is the day and age where law only matters if you get caught and are prosecuted--otherwise anything goes.

MichaelS. · July 9, 2017, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Interesting--my account was supposed to be deleted as of today--but I just logged on and they are still showing all my pictures. Some kind of "snatch and grab" maybe?

Same here. Deleted the account last week, and yet it is still up. I see that the images that were being held hostage have been released now. Hmmm?

Metal god · July 9, 2017, 03:36 PM

I've never liked photobucket and use imageshack . They were free up until two years ago and now it's $4 a month . $33-ish dollars a month does seem a bit high for a simple service .

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...922/iym4bx.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...538/dUX4Y4.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...901/5Cr0Vo.jpg

My photos still work through imageshack but I have to assume if the bucket gets away with this . Imageshack wont be far behind . I will add that imageshack does loose pictures from time to time . Not sure why but all of a sudden a picture I know was uploaded is no longer there . Of the hundreds I've uploaded my guess would be 10 or so have been lost and most of those were do to a server crash at imageshack .

A pause for the COZ · July 11, 2017, 08:26 AM

Photo bucket was the cats meow for many many years.
I have literally thousands of images hosted there.

Now I am not against any business making a profit. But what has finally got my goat with them. I had paid a one time fee to them for add free hosting for life.
When I asked them to honor their commitment. They of course reserved the right to change the term of service at any time.
So I am done with them.

Now that they are blocking images that were linked.
Its time to move them.
There is a way to down load your whole bucket at once. But off the top of my head I cant remember. I will need to spend some quality time figuring it out. but I know it is possible.

Update: there is a link to down load your entire album on the left hand side of the screen. trying it now.

Update#2 after down loading my Album twice. Both times they sent me corrupted zip files.
So back to plan A, I guess.

GWS · July 12, 2017, 11:48 AM

Mr. COZ, you are dealing with a new group that bought out PhotoBucket a year or so ago, I believe. These people have no interest in any "promises" the previous owners made with customers.

My feeling is that they have a plan to make a lot of money quick then shut it down. At least that is the only reasonable reason I can think of to screw all their customers. So they are scumbags pure and simple. Think about it....they have 15 billion pictures and videos........if they can get one dollar for each, that's a lot of money. So they consider those pictures potential cash.....and they are not going to give them up easily.

And speaking of simple, you can't simply download all your stuff and bow out. For one thing, any picture you have "shared" with what they call a third party, and replaced with one of their blackmail notices, is locked....you can't download it period.

What you can do is download any album you haven't yet shared with other blogs or forums.....if they haven't yet replaced a picture with the notice you are good to download.

I have copies of all my stuff on my harddrives.....so since all my posts are replaced with their blackmail notices anyway I just erased every picture on their site. So I have a lot of work to do....replacing their b.m. notices with the pictures.....it'll take a while.

stagpanther · July 12, 2017, 12:20 PM

At this point I would say they have violated their agreement to delete my account--everything is still up and running well after the promised time for taking it down. My guess is that they are simply extracting whatever value they can--I wonder if at some point they may even be crossing over copyright laws.

**Unclenick** · July 16, 2017, 11:06 AM

I think the excess usage means the bandwidth needed to deliver the pictures and not the amount of storage. My images started going out quickly after posting, but only the ones I put up for test. I see them in my library, but when I select to go to window where you edit and copy a link, the ransom notice shows in their place.

**Aguila Blanca** · July 20, 2017, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stagpanther

My guess is way down in the fine print they retain some commercial use of my images--even if I terminate my relationship with them. This is the day and age where law only matters if you get caught and are prosecuted--otherwise anything goes.

If I remember what I think I saw in the terms of service, Photobucket does retain a right to use YOUR photos for any purpose THEY want as long as you leave the photos on their server. Consequently, if you choose to protest their hostage taking by terminating your account, first be sure you have all your photos somewhere else, then delete them all from Photobucket, and THEN delete your account.

FrankenMauser · July 20, 2017, 07:16 PM

Quote:

There is a way to down load your whole bucket at once. But off the top of my head I cant remember. I will need to spend some quality time figuring it out. but I know it is possible.

Update: there is a link to down load your entire album on the left hand side of the screen. trying it now.

Update#2 after down loading my Album twice. Both times they sent me corrupted zip files.
So back to plan A, I guess.

Very large zip files tend to get corrupted when downloading from servers that throttle bandwidth. Based on previous experience with PB, I'd be surprised if they don't limit download speeds. ...Or, they could just have a massive percentage of their user base overloading the servers by trying to do the same.

Skans · July 25, 2017, 08:15 AM

What are the alternatives to Photobucket? Are any of them free?

**Aguila Blanca** · July 25, 2017, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skans

What are the alternatives to Photobucket? Are any of them free?

Flickr.com
postimage.io
ImageVenue.com
FreeImageHosting.net

A number of people are suggesting Imgur.com. Their terms of service do NOT allow for third party hosting, but so far they're not blocking it. I'm not willing to risk moving all my photos and links over to Imgur, only to have them decide to block third party hosting next week/month/year.

MagnumWill · July 26, 2017, 11:47 PM

Tumblr appears to have a free service as well. I think you can post to links there.

When in doubt, Pinterest could work too...

July 9, 2017, 08:40 AM	#28
stagpanther Senior Member Join Date: March 2, 2014 Posts: 11,789	Interesting--my account was supposed to be deleted as of today--but I just logged on and they are still showing all my pictures. Some kind of "snatch and grab" maybe? __________________ "Everyone speaks gun."--Robert O'Neill *I am NOT an expert--I do not have any formal experience or certification in firearms use or testing; use any information I post at your own risk!*

July 9, 2017, 12:34 PM	#30
stagpanther Senior Member Join Date: March 2, 2014 Posts: 11,789	My guess is way down in the fine print they retain some commercial use of my images--even if I terminate my relationship with them. This is the day and age where law only matters if you get caught and are prosecuted--otherwise anything goes. __________________ "Everyone speaks gun."--Robert O'Neill *I am NOT an expert--I do not have any formal experience or certification in firearms use or testing; use any information I post at your own risk!*

July 9, 2017, 03:36 PM	#32
Metal god Senior Member Join Date: April 10, 2012 Location: San Diego CA Posts: 6,876	I've never liked photobucket and use imageshack . They were free up until two years ago and now it's $4 a month . $33-ish dollars a month does seem a bit high for a simple service . http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...922/iym4bx.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...538/dUX4Y4.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...901/5Cr0Vo.jpg My photos still work through imageshack but I have to assume if the bucket gets away with this . Imageshack wont be far behind . I will add that imageshack does loose pictures from time to time . Not sure why but all of a sudden a picture I know was uploaded is no longer there . Of the hundreds I've uploaded my guess would be 10 or so have been lost and most of those were do to a server crash at imageshack . __________________ If Jesus had a gun , he'd probably still be alive ! I almost always write my posts regardless of content in a jovial manor and intent . If that's not how you took it , please try again . Last edited by Mal H; July 17, 2017 at 03:23 PM. Reason: Change images to links

July 11, 2017, 08:26 AM	#33
A pause for the COZ Senior Member Join Date: October 11, 2012 Location: Braham, Minnesota Posts: 1,314	Photo bucket was the cats meow for many many years. I have literally thousands of images hosted there. Now I am not against any business making a profit. But what has finally got my goat with them. I had paid a one time fee to them for add free hosting for life. When I asked them to honor their commitment. They of course reserved the right to change the term of service at any time. So I am done with them. Now that they are blocking images that were linked. Its time to move them. There is a way to down load your whole bucket at once. But off the top of my head I cant remember. I will need to spend some quality time figuring it out. but I know it is possible. Update: there is a link to down load your entire album on the left hand side of the screen. trying it now. Update#2 after down loading my Album twice. Both times they sent me corrupted zip files. So back to plan A, I guess. __________________ NRA life member. US Army veteran, 11 Bravo. Last edited by A pause for the COZ; July 11, 2017 at 09:58 AM.

July 12, 2017, 11:48 AM	#34
GWS Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2010 Location: New Mexico Posts: 688	Mr. COZ, you are dealing with a new group that bought out PhotoBucket a year or so ago, I believe. These people have no interest in any "promises" the previous owners made with customers. My feeling is that they have a plan to make a lot of money quick then shut it down. At least that is the only reasonable reason I can think of to screw all their customers. So they are scumbags pure and simple. Think about it....they have 15 billion pictures and videos........if they can get one dollar for each, that's a lot of money. So they consider those pictures potential cash.....and they are not going to give them up easily. And speaking of simple, you can't simply download all your stuff and bow out. For one thing, any picture you have "shared" with what they call a third party, and replaced with one of their blackmail notices, is locked....you can't download it period. What you can do is download any album you haven't yet shared with other blogs or forums.....if they haven't yet replaced a picture with the notice you are good to download. I have copies of all my stuff on my harddrives.....so since all my posts are replaced with their blackmail notices anyway I just erased every picture on their site. So I have a lot of work to do....replacing their b.m. notices with the pictures.....it'll take a while. Last edited by GWS; July 12, 2017 at 03:20 PM.

July 9, 2017, 08:26 AM	#27
Elkins45 Senior Member Join Date: February 24, 2010 Posts: 498	Part of the real kick in the pants is the amount. I don't mind paying for services, but $399 is way more then the amount of service they provide for me. I'm posting a handful of the images and a handful of forms, not running a major website. I think Photobucket has essentially destroyed their business with this move.

July 12, 2017, 12:20 PM	#35
stagpanther Senior Member Join Date: March 2, 2014 Posts: 11,789	At this point I would say they have violated their agreement to delete my account--everything is still up and running well after the promised time for taking it down. My guess is that they are simply extracting whatever value they can--I wonder if at some point they may even be crossing over copyright laws. __________________ "Everyone speaks gun."--Robert O'Neill *I am NOT an expert--I do not have any formal experience or certification in firearms use or testing; use any information I post at your own risk!*

July 16, 2017, 11:06 AM	#36
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,063	I think the excess usage means the bandwidth needed to deliver the pictures and not the amount of storage. My images started going out quickly after posting, but only the ones I put up for test. I see them in my library, but when I select to go to window where you edit and copy a link, the ransom notice shows in their place. __________________ Gunsite Orange Hat Family Member CMP Certified GSM Master Instructor NRA Certified Rifle Instructor NRA Benefactor Member and Golden Eagle

July 25, 2017, 08:15 AM	#39
Skans Senior Member Join Date: November 20, 2008 Posts: 11,132	What are the alternatives to Photobucket? Are any of them free?

July 26, 2017, 11:47 PM	#41
MagnumWill Senior Member Join Date: March 18, 2009 Location: Central Colorado Posts: 1,001	Tumblr appears to have a free service as well. I think you can post to links there. When in doubt, Pinterest could work too... __________________ Those who hammer their swords into plow shares will plow for those who didn't...