Photobucket no longer allows hotlinking from free accounts...

[HoustonCollector72]

I was just fixing some of the pics gone from my brag thread last night , I have not seen this PB change , but I only have a couple of pages affected , looks like i was using Tapatalk for a while to get pics from my mobile on here , then something happened that i switched to Flickr a while back.

PB  was always too much for work to use to get the pics on here

[lovesbabysquirmy]

If you have any kind of Yahoo account you also have a Flickr account, you just may need to associate the two.  And there!  You have 1TB of free storage (for now....)!

Another tip on file organization:  use software tools to help you compare any duplicates.  I use a combo of Clone Files Checker (to ID where the files are and manually clean), and then a Beyond Compare scan  so I can easily move large numbers of files/folders where I might be overlooking something. 

[Hannah66665]

So I wasn't going to download any of my PB stuff but I did have some older things on there which I probably have on another disc somewhere but you know, just in case. So after a lot of refreshing and clicking, they downloaded.

Though in the folder they all look fine and normal, when going through them on preview, some of the images were stretched and distorted to look like they were just a long thin line.

I suggest people check their images are fine before deleting their account. It might just have been something with the format of my images, but they were all JPG images, not gif or any other format, so I wanted to just flag this in case it affects anyone else.

Again, they look fine when you open the zip, extract them and view the thumbnails in the folder, but on preview they were warped. It also might just be an issue with preview or with my PC, because my PC is evil, but just in case...better safe than sorry.

In the past I have had a few images on my computer that appeared warped in the preview and I never understood why... but I was still able to open them in some programs and they were fine. I can't remember if I opened them in a browser or tried a different picture viewer though...

[Taffeta]

So I wasn't going to download any of my PB stuff but I did have some older things on there which I probably have on another disc somewhere but you know, just in case. So after a lot of refreshing and clicking, they downloaded.

Though in the folder they all look fine and normal, when going through them on preview, some of the images were stretched and distorted to look like they were just a long thin line.

I suggest people check their images are fine before deleting their account. It might just have been something with the format of my images, but they were all JPG images, not gif or any other format, so I wanted to just flag this in case it affects anyone else.

Again, they look fine when you open the zip, extract them and view the thumbnails in the folder, but on preview they were warped. It also might just be an issue with preview or with my PC, because my PC is evil, but just in case...better safe than sorry.

In the past I have had a few images on my computer that appeared warped in the preview and I never understood why... but I was still able to open them in some programs and they were fine. I can't remember if I opened them in a browser or tried a different picture viewer though...

Well, my computer has issues (a long list,seriously) so I would be inclined to blame it, but I wanted to headsup just in case it was a PB thing and not a Fuyu-the-brat-laptop thing. I've never had it happen on any computer in any context before and I've had a lot of computers on a lot of OS over the years, so you know, just in case it isn't Fuyu being a brat...

I admit that with writing my chapter and such I haven't had a chance to mess around with them in Photoshop to see if they open all right there.

[Ponyfan]

I got another email from Photobucket last night. It says "We've noticed you've been using Photobucket for 3rd party hosting"  One email said my account was targeted for excessive use and excessive 3rd party hosting.   


Ponyfan

[lostpony]

I got an email too the other day, urging me to upgrade.  Didn't say anything about excessive use though, that's probably next.

It would make sense if the charge was reasonable, like $8 a month or something but minimum of their largest account at $399 in one wallop to do 3rd-party hosting?  Who are they kidding?

I bet they die before anyone gets their full year of service.  That they suddenly require a full year of payment up front signals desperation.  Probably they are building their executive golden parachutes, and will go belly-up real soon.

Oh yes, I love your new Twilight siggy, Ponyfan!

[NightGliderSA]

I was talking to one of my coworkers today about the whole PB thing. She doesn't use PB and didn't know anything about this mess. After I explained everything she commented how this sounds very illegal. She was wondering if there was somebody we could contact about this situation. She mentioned the Better Business Bureau, but neither one of us were sure if they dealt with websites.

Put your picture in your Dropbox folder.
Right click on it, choose 'Copy Dropbox Link'
Bam, you have a URL.  Put it in [] img tags the way you'd normally do.  There's a button for it on this forum and most others to make it easier.

That didn't work. I have some images on another message board that I need to fix ASAP before the mods of there start screaming at me. Leaving broken links up is against the rules.

sailorstitch

What exactly didn't work?

I copied the link into the img tags, but the picture didn't appear. It was just a blank space.

I've been playing around with Drop Box, Imgur and Flickr. Right now Flickr is working the best for me. I'm using that one to fix my photos on the other message board. But I'd still like to have Drop Box too if I can get the pictures to embed.

sailorstitch

What does the URL look like?
Edit: Oh wait I remember, pretty sure I wrote an auto-correct for this.  Change https://www.dropbox.com to https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/

That should fix it?

I'll give that a try later.

sailorstitch

https://www.dropbox.com/s/exhedux1rvw0u07/2017-06-25%2016.04.40%20sm.jpg?dl=0

Post Merge: July 11, 2017, 11:20:39 AM

Apologies for the above post - trying to figure out how to post my photo's with Dropbox... darn you PB!! This only gives a link - how do I post an actual picture? You know, like we used to be able to with PB (sadly shakes head)

[lostpony]

OK with the above-mentioned thoughts as to the legality of their actions, I just couldn't stand my ignorance any longer.  So, I had a quick peek at the California Secretary of State website to determine what jurisdiction they might be sued in.  I discovered that "PHOTOBUCKET.COM, INC" is indeed a California corporation (entity #C2877441) based in Palo Alto (right near me!) and is therefore subject to California laws and without question this change in policy constitutes a number of California torts including but not limited to fraud and for those who relied on their service for sales, also interference with economic advantage.

What they've done is without question actionable, however, the cost of litigating it far exceeds any potential damages that might be won even with punitive damages unless one happens to be a lawyer and therefore able to pursue a class action against them, which would still be dubious because they probably won't survive long enough to collect any judgments obtained and litigating such an action is very expensive.

The fact they have not actually destroyed/prevented access to the data means they aren't liable for conversion or extortion as I had original presumed....hiding the images behind false thumbnails is deceptive, yes, but drastically limits their liability as a "reasonable person" should try to download their images and if they are too stupid (as I was) and fall for the false thumbnail, that's not the same as actually withholding the images, and this demonstrates that they are legally savvy and know how to manipulate us while limiting their liability.  Undoubtedly their legal team is prepared for any onslaught anyone might bring.

So....actionable, yes; reasonable to pursue....no.  Plus, their agent for service of process in Delaware just resigned in December, the month following their last corporation renewal filing, so they are clearly in turmoil and making a desperate grab for revenue before drastically restructuring or folding, so a judgment wouldn't likely be collectible anyway.  Anyone outside of California would also have to allege damages in excess of $75,000 in order to sustain an action in federal court.

Just an amateur hack's quick legal analysis of the feasibility of suing them for their misdeeds.  Not worth it, not going to happen.  Sorry.  We just have to deal with it, and move on.

[banditpony]

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Change the webpage to https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com instead of https://www.dropbox.com. And put it inside the image tag. I also dropped the ?dl=0 not sure if that's necessary

Quote my post to see how I got it to show.

[NightGliderSA]

Thank you!! I understand and now I can go and fix all my broken photo links, really appreciate the help! 

[PrincessTiffy]

I just got the email from Photobucket about excessive usage lol. I don't use it or link pictures very often. But I guess my post about the loyal subjects figure in the pony corral triggered it. I've never posted that many photos on here lol. But all the picture are still viewable on here and don't have the upgrade gauge like I've seen so I'm confused.

[lostpony]

I love your example pic there, banditpony.

[NoDivision]

They've finally come for me!  I'm trying to decide where to put all of these old images. I already use Flickr pretty regularly, but only for photography that I want to be viewed in like a gallery format. I don't really want to clutter up my account with a bunxh of really old pictures or random signature graphics.

[pinkkittywinks]

Thank you Baby Sugarberry for the DropBox tips

So I deleted my account on 1st July and got a notification saying my account would be deactivated/deleted/removed on 2nd July BUT I checked today and it's still active 

I've deleted all the images I had stored there, so my account is empty, but I'm still getting emails from photobucket saying I'm third party hosting! There is nothing to host. I guess the system is just going crazy with all the people removing their accounts?

Love pkw xxx

[jrr74]

So all the pictures using PB on these threads are now gone, never to be seen; unless the OP is willing to take the time to upload them again.  This breaks my heart.  Huge piece of history vanished in thin air