netfirms disabled hotlinking

[Belgiumdude]

Netfirms has disabled hotlinking of images on free accounts...damn

[xamax]

They even gotten smarter now. When you enter URL of the image(and not clicking on the link), you get an error.

[xamax]

Ok, I figure, first the fall of unlimited web space with no banner ads. Then the fall of the free image hosting.. Whats going to fall next?? The free web hosting services that allows FTP client?

[striker]

---- they were so good too, They had a 100% uptime and FTP. damn damn damn

[amz]

Hotlinking SHOULD be disabled on both FREE and PAID
accounts.

The reason becomes apparent when we look at our member's
server logs before we also disabled hotlinking.

When you don't have hotlink protection, anyone can link
directly to your images and very quickly wipe out all the
bandwidth you are allowed on your host.

We had one guy that had some game map images that
apparently everyone wanted and next thing you know, there
were more than 500 web sites out on the internet linking
to the images on his web site and seriously put him over
his bandwidth limits.

We have setup a compromise though at AMZ Web Hosting
that other hosts may want to consider. Instead of completely
blindly blocking all hotlinking, we allow users to specify a few
links that are permitted and allow hotlinking from those sites
while blocking all non-authorized sites from linking to their
content.

In example, we can configure a user's web site to disallow all
hotlinking except those requests coming from FreeWebSpace, etc.

[striker]

ALthough thats true, Im sure it was a rare case.

People just want somewhere nice, fast and reliable to host avatars and sigs.

netfirms was perfect because you could quickly log in ftp, upload and the site was nice and easy to remember (xxx.netfirms.com/xyxy.jpg).

With all other hosts that allow hotlinking you have to login to file manager and it sometimes loads slow and sometimes you wait and get errors etc. not to mention all the downtime and deleted accounts.

[xamax]

so you are trying to say that hotlinking should be outlawed?

[EpidemiK]

No. They just want to have control over which sites can hotlink their images.

[Jan]

It has been in their TOS at least three months. This thread is when I first posted about it. So if you don't read the TOS, then you have yourselves to blame for being "left in the lurch" :p

http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=342205

[xamax]

At least they still have CGI.

[notnamed]

Hotlinking SHOULD be disabled on both FREE and PAID
accounts.

That's going too far. If you don't disable hotlinking yourself on your paid account that's your problem. You paid for it and you'll suffer the consequences. Also linking to sigs and avatars is perfectly fine...it's your account, you can do what you want within the realms of your host's TOS. It's not the same with free hosting...you didn't pay for it, it's NOT YOUR ACCOUNT, it's the free hosts account that they have given you access to.

[striker]

I can understand some free hosts disabling hotlinking but I agree that you should be able to hotlink 100% on paid accounts

[Muttle.com]

Originally posted by xamax
Ok, I figure, first the fall of unlimited web space with no banner ads. Then the fall of the free image hosting.. Whats going to fall next?? The free web hosting services that allows FTP client?

Oh no, I see a trend too xamax!

First, businesses that aren't making money are going out of business. That's ludicrous! Then, ISPs that have spammers are kicking them, even after they signed up for the free 45 day trial that they unfairly got cut from! I can see it too man, next is going to be no more free samples at the deli counter :eek:.

[striker]

correct me if im mistaken but doesnt muttle ALLOW hotlinking?

[lotsofissues]

If the client fails to protect from hotlinking it is more of the host's problem. Sure you made for the bandwidth, but almost none of us anticipate you use all of it!

[conkermaniac]

Originally posted by Jan
It has been in their TOS at least three months. This thread is when I first posted about it. So if you don't read the TOS, then you have yourselves to blame for being "left in the lurch" :p

http://www.freewebspace.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=342205

That's exactly what I was thinking! :confused2 I knew I would find your post in here somewhere. :p


We have setup a compromise though at AMZ Web Hosting
that other hosts may want to consider. Instead of completely
blindly blocking all hotlinking, we allow users to specify a few
links that are permitted and allow hotlinking from those sites
while blocking all non-authorized sites from linking to their
content.


Yeah, it's .htaccess, and a simple administration tool is available in CPanel.

[notnamed]

lotsofissues, no. It's your problem, if you're bloody stupid enough not to protect yourself from hotlinking it comes out of your pocket and it's all your fault, your problem. You created the account, uploaded the pictures but didn't take the proper preventative measures to keep your bandwidth under control that's your fault for not thinking or researching enough into what you're doing before you make the leap.
</rant>

[Muttle.com]

Originally posted by striker
correct me if im mistaken but doesnt muttle ALLOW hotlinking?

Hotlinking is not allowed. I have no desire for thousands of kids with an obsession for flashing dbz avatars calling themselves vegeta54362 on a forum sapping my bandwith :).

[lotsofissues]

Originally posted by notnamed
lotsofissues, no. It's your problem, if you're bloody stupid enough not to protect yourself from hotlinking it comes out of your pocket and it's all your fault, your problem. You created the account, uploaded the pictures but didn't take the proper preventative measures to keep your bandwidth under control that's your fault for not thinking or researching enough into what you're doing before you make the leap.
</rant>

lol....Tell me what I said to prompt you to go on that tangent?