Me, I'd have raised quite a ruckus.sauvin wrote: ↑Thu Apr 27, 2023 1:24 amSome years ago, Photobucket (PB) had offered free accounts for many years in addition to a couple of other paid tiers, and had been used extensively on the free tier in fora just like this one. They decided very abruptly to disable "hotlinking" in the free tier, demanding that people wanting this capability subscribe to a premium tier to the tune of $400/year, only payable yearly and due immediately - as I recall it, the announcement was made a day *after* this policy was put into effect. Fora *everywhere* were suddenly full of posts bearing icon-like images instead of screen shots, photos detailing how to disassemble motorcycle clutches or how to knit particular kinds of loops. Not terribly long afterwards, they changed their policy again, but now images hotlinked from PB's former free tier are boldly stamped with a PB logo, making many of the images almost useless.
Some of the earlier images from my topic "From the Light of a Different Sun" look much like this:
While nobody is going to argue for the image's value in any sense, you can easily see how this branding ruins the image. Imagine trying to tease out details of a clutch assembly or loops in a knitting pattern with this branding obscuring the image.
I'm honestly surprised a greater furor didn't erupt. There'd be some angry posts here and there in various fora, but I don't remember seeing it mentioned outside of any of the fora. It was, however, noted.
Sidenote: I did find a site that works.