Guys & Gals,
i finished one of the items on my "How to improve 914world.com" todo list today.


Starting tonight, any time you link to an image in a post that is hosted somewhere other than this website, like for example flickr.com or photobucket.com, those offsite images will be automatically copied to our server and your link will be replaced with a link to the local copy.


The days of posts with disappearing images are officially over!
Andy


PS: Please report any problems with this feature directly to me ...

For example:

The original Image url that i copied into this post was:






However, the Image you see above is in fact a local copy that was created automatically when i posted this ...
Andy

Cooool & Bitchin Andy! Thanx!!!!

Sir you are the smartest man alive!

The next thing will be a script that runs through all the old posts (1,261,874 ) and tries to get as many of the old offsite images downloaded as possible.


I fear many will already be lost in space forever but even a few is better than nothing.
Andy

Very nice!

OMG! My head hurts just thinking about that!

This is so AWESOME! Now we will maintain the integrity of our information for the future.

Imagine what would happen to all the posts on all the threads on all the internet if Photobucket went out of business or had a systemwide failure. I hate the idea of losing our information.

YOU ROCK ANDY! (btw, I posted about a couple obscure bugs in the back office)

This is an awesome feature and a slick technical achievement.

There might be copyright or licensing implications though, for instance if the new script copies copyrighted photos from the Porsche AG site and starts serving them up from here.

I'm no lawyer, just sayin'....be careful

Very cool! So now if I want to move my Photobucket pictures around I won't break the link? (well, link will break, but picture will still be posted.)

Sweeet!!

I won't have to wait until I get home from work to see most of this pics. The fire wall software at work block most any photo host sites. Been quite frustrating to read about some great pictures but not be able to see them.

Wow that is terrific Andy. I always worried about pictures disappearing.

Now if we could get an automatic picture resizer so loading pictures would be simple that would be terrific too. Pelican Parts has an auto resizer picture feature and it makes posting pictures so simple even I can do it. Thanks again and keep up the good work. This is a great site.

Lotta value in that. Good work!

.................I THOUGHT that if something was posted on the internet it was , considered public property?.....and the only person/ intenity who could be liable was the ORIGINAL person who did so without ....someones ....permission.

Nope. Just because a picture is on public display does not invalidate the copyright of that picture. Same with pirated feature films. Anyone whom downloads a copy is as liable as the person whom first posted the film. Just look to the prosecution of people whom downloaded music files...

Eric

Yeah. Posting on the internet does not make what you posted public domain, any more then publishing in a book makes it public domain. The creator still has rights to his or her work.

Zach

Thanks Andy!

Awesome Awesome Awesome!

That's a great feature for the future ... ( jeu de mot )...

Thank you Sor Ahndie

Very common misconception, but much of the material on the internet (just like in printed publications) is subject to copyright laws and people as well as companies get sued every day for inappropriate use or duplication.

Now in most cases with photos, from a practical standpoint, the owner would only come after you if you were using it for commercial gain such as trying to sell prints, use it in a magazine or TV commercial etc. In that case you are directly damaging their income. The big exceptions are when the owner has used a "creative commons" or similar license instead of full copyright, or when the material is truly public domain such as the old historical photos from the National Archives etc.

The best advice is if there is any doubt about posting something on the web that you did not create, either ASK first or just don't do it. The penalties per incident can be outrageous if somebody did really come after you...

Anyone have any problems to report?

Andy