# 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:** 2
**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, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/21 "2017-08-02T01:47:18Z")
Thanks! Copying all my images, just in case. StG ---
**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 2, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/22 "2017-08-02T01:50:19Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 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. > [http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff307/aceplace57/Guitar%2005.jpg](http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff307/aceplace57/Guitar%2005.jpg) When I click on that link I get told to disable my adblocker. Hah. Not happening. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/23 "2017-08-02T02:08:47Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > [Test](http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/StG61/Storm%20Damage%201_zpsgsq0r82q.jpg) > > I can see this, can anyone else? > > StG Yup, just fine. How old is that house? ---
**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, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/24 "2017-08-02T02:14:44Z")
This is getting weird. My original post with a link to a guitar photo shows a upgrade now image. Exactly like the image in the Verge article. But, the photo is visible is posts where I was quoted. I have no idea why. I do see the house someone posted. I didn’t dream this up. Everything I experienced is described in that article on Verge in my OP. Other people are seeing the same thing. I’m moving to imgur. I’m not wasting time trying to figure out Photobucket. It’s a shame. 11 years shot to hell. I may leave the account in place. Just in case my old posts with images on several forums, still work. ---
**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, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/25 "2017-08-02T02:16:13Z")
**Chimera** - It was built in 1847. [Picture before the storm](http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/StG61/Southwest_zps7fa8cf14.jpg). I have the house and 14 acres. StG ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/26 "2017-08-02T02:22:17Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > **Chimera** - It was built in 1847. [Picture before the storm](http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/StG61/Southwest_zps7fa8cf14.jpg). I have the house and 14 acres. > > StG Idly clicking that link I got: > [@](#): > > Warning: include(/mnt/den2-pri1-mnt/code/code/pb-htdocs/public/galleryd/desktop.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /code/pb-htdocs/public/galleryd/index.php on line 122 > > Warning: include(): Failed opening ‘/mnt/den2-pri1-mnt/code/code/pb-htdocs/public/galleryd/desktop.php’ for inclusion (include\_path=‘.:…:…/…:/usr/local/lib/php:/usr/share/php/Smarty’) in /code/pb-htdocs/public/galleryd/index.php on line 122 I really miss simple 404s. ---
**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, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/27 "2017-08-02T02:27:59Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Idly clicking that link I got: > > I really miss simple 404s. Did you try my first image? [Here’s that one again.](http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/StG61/Southwest_zps7fa8cf14.jpg) StG ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/28 "2017-08-02T02:36:35Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > 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: I still don’t completely trust Kindle. Sure, I’m buying a “book”. But who’s to say if I’ll still have access to it in five years? When I buy something I want to have possession of it and possession of the means to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/29 "2017-08-02T02:38:00Z")
I caught a glimpse before the AdBlocker ReBlocker kicked in. Very nice. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/30 "2017-08-02T02:42:05Z")
And I clicked a little bit in the corner talking about anti-adblocker scripts. Which took me to this. > **[BlockAdblock | Stop Losing Ad Revenue](https://blockadblock.com/)** > > Stop losing ad revenue. Stop adblocking on your site today. BlockAdblock is the leading anti-adblock defense. Bloody weirdos. ---
**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, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/31 "2017-08-02T03:00:47Z")
Storage is so cheap now. Google gives people Google Drive 15 Gig free. It can be expanded for a few bucks a month. Hosting images requires very little storage. An account with 100 images uses less than 200MB. And these people at Photobucket want $400 a year? For that trivial amount of storage? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/32 "2017-08-02T03:01:33Z")
Photobucket also seems limited in what browsers can view its pages. My computer, an older mochine with an older Linux system and and older Firefox, has never once succeeded in viewing a picture on photofucket. So every last image that any Doper has ever put there that I had ever thought interesting enough to click on, I couldn’t see. If everyone on this board takes their photos somewhere else – to a site that is compatible with a wider variety of browsers – that would suit me. There’s certainly nothing difficult about making a web page that can display pictures with any old browser. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/33 "2017-08-02T03:03:51Z")
I don’t know how they think this is anything other than corporate suicide. Very very few of the people who use the service are going to put out that kind of cash. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/34 "2017-08-02T12:22:25Z")
Right now I’m pulling all my personal photos off Photobucket. I can afford to lose the clipart/royalty free photos I’ve used for illustrating essays because I figure I can always recall them online if I ever need to re-illustrate any of them. In going through my account…wow, it’s been ages since I last uploaded anything there. I’ve never been a serious photographer so losing Photobucket isn’t affecting me as it is affecting others (btw a lot of my amateur photographer friends are still using Flickr). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/35 "2017-08-02T12:36:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 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. I have maybe 100 photos stored there from when I used Photobucket to post image links on a gardening forum. I have copies stored elsewhere so no big deal if they’re being “held hostage”. Same deal with AT&T Locker, which has sent me several e-mails and texts recently to warn that their photo storage operation was being shut down. Can’t imagine anyone paying $400 a year for Photobucket’s “service”, but maybe the corporate gremlins have figured out a way to make it work. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/36 "2017-08-02T13:21:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 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. Wait, so some people would take their photos, upload them to some photo website, _and then delete them from their computer_? Why would anyone on Earth do that? Yea, they are going to pay the stupid tax for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/37 "2017-08-02T14:00:47Z")
Well, it reminds me of a guy I worked with about 15 years ago who wrote things and put them out on the net, proclaiming that now that they were on the internet, they would be out there _ **forever** _!!! :rolleyes: I had to point out to him that services get cancelled, companies go out of business, servers die. ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/38 "2017-08-02T14:49:23Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > [Test](http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/StG61/Storm%20Damage%201_zpsgsq0r82q.jpg) > > I can see this, can anyone else? > > StG I could browse all your images from that link. Was that intentional? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**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, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/39 "2017-08-02T15:00:09Z")
> [@Archeonomist](#): > > I could browse all your images from that link. Was that intentional? > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Well, it wasn’t prohibited. I don’t know how to link to just one pic, but I would never save on the internet pictures I wouldn’t show my mother. Did you see the dogs? THe before/after of my house when deciding what color to paint it? StG ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601/40 "2017-08-02T15:03:05Z")
To get your pictures back, you might use the snipping tool on them. It’s labor intensive but it will work if you didn’t keep a backup. Then switch to Imgur. Which is pronounced “Im-Gur”. Because. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photobucket-shaking-down-users-for-400-a-year/792601.md?page=3)