# Photobucket shaking down users for $400 a year. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 1, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601 "2017-08-01T22:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/1 "2017-08-01T22:09:56Z")
I just discovered that my Photobucket account no longer allows linking. I’ve used that account since 2006 to post photos on forums. That includes posts here on SDMB. The photos in those old posts will now display a error message. Some googling quickly discovered the problem. [https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2017/7/4/15919224/photobucket-broken-images-amazon-ebay-etsy-paid-update](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2017/7/4/15919224/photobucket-broken-images-amazon-ebay-etsy-paid-update) It’s a total scam. You can’t even download your photos without paying the extortion money. Some people had foolishly posted hundreds of photos there. A full decade or more of their lives. Gone. Unless they pay up. Fortunately I never fell into that trap. I have all my originals on backups. I’ve always been a cynical dude. Never, ever, trust anybody or any company on the Web. That includes these cloud storage services. Someday your files will be ransomed too. Photobucket can kiss my hairy ass goodbye. [https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2017/7/4/15919224/photobucket-broken-images-amazon-ebay-etsy-paid-update](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2017/7/4/15919224/photobucket-broken-images-amazon-ebay-etsy-paid-update) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/2 "2017-08-01T22:19:06Z")
There’s already a pit thread (which seems most appropriate) [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=830266). I never used photobucket, thank goodness. What a stupid, shitty thing to do to people. Hard to believe it’s a viable business model. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/3 "2017-08-01T22:22:09Z")
All must bow down to the Nirvana of the Cloud. A total utopian paradise, where some third party “protects” all of your files online somewhere for us, but not to worry, the benevolence of our data masters will save us from any possible catastrophes that prevent us from accessing our precious data! :rainbows & sunshine: ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/4 "2017-08-01T22:22:40Z")
Hm, that thread paints a slightly different picture than the OP… ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/5 "2017-08-01T22:23:44Z")
So what alternative do I have? I will occasionally need to post pictures on the SDMB and other boards. I have a Google drive. I’ve shared files with Friends. That requires giving their email address permission to access the file and I send them a link. Is there a way to link a image here from Google drive? I’m also concerned about exposing an entire album to the public. That happened with a change at Photobucket a couple years ago. Linking a photo suddenly gave people access to browsing the entire album. Another nasty and unannounced change by that company. What do you suggest using to post images? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/6 "2017-08-01T22:29:22Z")
No, I was saying that I thought from your OP (third and fourth paragraph) that Photobucket was actually holding photos hostage, that you couldn’t even get them back onto a hard drive without paying four hundred bucks. I didn’t get that sense at all from the linked Pit thread. Is that what they’re doing or not? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/7 "2017-08-01T22:32:38Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Hm, that thread paints a slightly different picture than the OP… Say what??? The entire article is about the shake down. Yeah they mention sellers that used it for eBay ads. But it also effects everybody else. I just tried posting a link to a photo in Cafe Society and got that error message. Tried emailing the photo to my phone and got the same error with that demand to sign up. Anyone with photos on Photobucket has lost them unless they pay up. I’m so thankful that I still have my originals. I only used Photobucket to post images on forums. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/8 "2017-08-01T22:42:54Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > No, I was saying that I thought from your OP (third and fourth paragraph) that Photobucket was actually holding photos hostage, that you couldn’t even get them back onto a hard drive without paying four hundred bucks. I didn’t get that sense at all from the linked Pit thread. Is that what they’re doing or not? I couldn’t find a way to download. I even tried emailing a link to myself. I was on my phone. I haven’t tried it on a PC. But the article quoted tweets from other users that couldn’t download either. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/9 "2017-08-01T22:43:24Z")
IIRC, the Pit thread implied that there was still a way to get your photos out, but the button had just been moved. Not one person on that thread mentions photos actually being held hostage from download. You seem to be the only one. Are you absolutely sure there’s absolutely no way to get the photos out? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/10 "2017-08-01T22:47:46Z")
You can’t see the quoted tweets in The Verge article? Miz Erie clearly says she can’t download. Erica Bunker says she can’t get her files. I’d quote them if I could. I can’t select the text. I’d like to cancel that Photobucket account. I don’t see a way to do that either. I’ll boot up my dusty pc and take a look there. FROM Verge > [@](#): > > You can imagine, then, the outrage that ensued. It appears some users can’t even download their own photos out of their Photobucket accounts without upgrading. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/11 "2017-08-01T22:58:31Z")
I deleted all of my pics, then; Hover mouse over account on the upper right. Select Settings. Select Account (far right) Delete Account is at the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/12 "2017-08-01T23:02:13Z")
Awesome! I’ll get on my PC ASAP. thank you. I’d prefer that those bloodsuckers didn’t have my personal images. ---
**Author:** ![cardinal\_fang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal_fang/32/15316_2.png) [@cardinal\_fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardinal_fang)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/13 "2017-08-01T23:02:15Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > What do you suggest using to post images? I’ve only used it a few times, but [imgur](http://imgur.com/) is a common site for image uploads, especially for linking from forums (I believe it was founded by Redditors for this purpose). You can also upload albums and maintain some measure of [privacy](https://help.imgur.com/hc/en-us/articles/201746817-Post-privacy) if desired (hidden URLs that are not indexed by search engines). It supports anonymous uploads as well. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/14 "2017-08-01T23:08:41Z")
I did have a imagebam account. I haven’t used it in several years. I don’t remember what username I used. I’ll take a look at imgur. It should be reliable if Reddit uses it. How about Dropbox? I’ve thought about getting storage there. Can you link images from there to SDMB and other forums? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/15 "2017-08-02T00:44:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I couldn’t find a way to download. I even tried emailing a link to myself. > > I was on my phone. I haven’t tried it on a PC. > > But the article quoted tweets from other users that couldn’t download either. I haven’t logged into my Photobucket account in a couple years but I was curious. I just signed in, clicked on a picture, and clicked the button next to the photo that says “Download” and the photo immediately downloaded to my computer. I also just tested putting a link in this post and it linked to the image just fine. 😕:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/16 "2017-08-02T00:56:04Z")
Another reason Zombie Threads suck: All the links to cool pictures are history! Not sayin’ this is a Zombie. But it will be one day, and then who will have the last laugh? Haw Haw! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/17 "2017-08-02T01:12:29Z")
Here’s a gorgeous photo of my guitar courtsey of Photobucket. It obviously isn’t working. I’ll delete the account tomorrow and this link won’t work at all. [![](https://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff307/aceplace57/Guitar%2005.jpg) ](https://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff307/aceplace57/Guitar%2005.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/18 "2017-08-02T01:22:17Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > How about Dropbox? I’ve thought about getting storage there. Can you link images from there to SDMB and other forums? Yes. I’ve posted stuff here from DB in the past; works fine. It also has the added bonus of being secure, meaning if I give you a link to one picture/document, you can’t necessarily see anything else. I have a Flikr (Yahoo) account that I usually use to post stuff to the Dope from, but if you back out the last part of the url, you can see other stuff I’ve posted there. To me it’s not that big of a deal as I only use it for public, Dope postings so I don’t care if someone finds another picture that I linked to for a different thread. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/19 "2017-08-02T01:36:21Z")
[Test](http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/StG61/Storm%20Damage%201_zpsgsq0r82q.jpg) I can see this, can anyone else? StG ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/20 "2017-08-02T01:44:23Z")
Red house and tree. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601.md?page=2)