Posted on 01/12/2010 6:49:58 AM PST by paulycy
Has anyone else noticed photobucket.com deleting more and more photos for "terms of use" violations that don't seem appropriate?
Has anybody had success in contacting photobucket and inquiring about or challenging an image deletion?
Although I understand that photobucket.com is a private enterprise and is legally entitled to enforce terms of use violations it seems that they are using this "terms of use" excuse to delete merely politically inconvenient images in increasing numbers.
The latest deletion was the blue-tinged actual output of the new airport security scan. Even though IANAL I know enough to know there is no way that "terms of use" can be used to delete this image when used here on FR for news commentary. It should also fall under "fair use."
It also seems that they are indiscriminately searching for certain words like "hitler." They deleted a copy of hitler's CAR apparently because I had "hitler mercedes benz.jpg" in the title.
What you say is true. In real life I lack the resources to fight this in any significant way. But certainly it is worth a bit of research and communication to exert some influence on them. That's what I'm doing here.
Does that mean you can't post anything that denies Global Warming or denies Obama’s status as a natural born citizen, since “Everybody” knows that would be false or misleading?
In this case, “winning” might end up with Photobucket refunding your money and closing your account.
It would if I behave like an @__hole. I'll try to avoid that.
In a difficult economy, you may have the basis for a new business. Take everyone's pics, start your own site with a few terabytes of storage, sell some adds, and go golfing. Call it "free speech pics".
Of course some of the pics you get with fisters and other pervs will make you copy the photobucket rules and then you will be one of,...... "THEM". Then you will cull out the photo's making fun of Bush or Palin and you will have to change your name.
As a paying customer I have an expectation of satisfactory service. You advocate me surrendering without firing a shot.
I'm not losing sleep over this so I have time to handle it in my own way. Their position is not right so I have a solid position.
Even privately owned corporations have a responsibility to be responsive to their customers needs and to satisfactorily explain their policies if they want to avoid bad publicity and stay in business.
If we move on to another, then another, then another we run out of services and all the prior services succeeded in eliminating yet another consumer check-and-balance.
This sure doesn't rise to the level of 0bama instituting anti-constitutional power structure but it is worth my time to explore my options and the dissatisfaction of other photobucket customers.
So, unconditionally surrender on your own time, FRiend.
I suspect that “abuse” is being called by Democrats who will even make false allegations of such to get right wing web content deleted.
Michelle Malkin saw her own Youtube content moved to “adults only” and deleted as “racist” on numerous occasions.
That's what I suspect, too. That is one reason that I would like to see some review mechanism available to at least learn *why* the image was deleted.
"Terms of use" is unacceptably vague. Unfair accusations winning the day is unacceptable. Photobucket is an apparently well run, thriving company owned in part by News Corp (parent of Fox News) and seems a likely company to start questioning about this before default false-accusation censorship becomes a daily fact of life.
It should also require a user to be “registered” before reporting images/youtube content. That way persons who are malicious (and fraudulent) in their reporting can find their accounts banned.
If they are only registering to delete content, then they probably don’t have good intentions.
This type of censorship doesn’t come from the top down on the web but it is found on just about every site.
Even the “top rated” (and low rated) news items on Yahoo are spammed by liberals. They actively work to supress some news items (examples would be pieces on climategate, prolife photos, etc) by rating them high or low.
The reach is so far that to mount a comparable FReep to “right the wrongs” would require full time effort. Effort that could be spent much better doing something productive rather than trying to challenge the Pravda Media’s lies (lies by omission are lies too).
You are right that to FReep some sort of response wouldn't work but developing a relationship with a company providing such services would help in spreading the word that this is going on and help develop defenses and maybe even better corporate policies regarding the kind of false-abuse spam we're experiencing.
Talking about this in the open is very helpful, IMO.
Another thing to consider. While conservatives can register an owned website, it would not offer some of the protections you might think.
Expect to see copyright violations against appropriated images.
Expect to see harassment if you should happen to create the next “Obama joker” image. Your identity may not be “secure” from the Left.
Expect some Party faithful to abuse the powers of their office to pull a witchhunt on you as they did on “Joe the Plumber” (and there was a hunt for the identity of the man who created the Obama Joker image, not just the guy posting it up).
You offer good insight. Certain things act as the proverbial "canary in the coal mine" to indicate just how bad things are getting. Maybe, in a small way, this photobucket thing is one of those "canaries" giving us some evidence that the fascists are truly clamping down on free communications. They include not just officials but every koolaid drinker out there with access to a computer and willing to lie to enslave their fellow man.
The canary in the coalmine was 2000 when DNC brownshirts vandalized thousands of campaign signs with swastikas, keyed cars, slashed the tires of GOP get out the vote vehicles on election day, pulled the power on a campaign office, threw bricks through the windows of campaign offices, stole computers from campaign offices, threatened to beat up Bush voters, etc.
The media ignored the story treating each incident as an isolated cases of mischevious vandalism.
It only got worse in 2004.
Palin was lynched in effigy in California at Halloween (on the eve of the election).
It’s only going to get worse. The DNC Brownshirts are here.
Code Pink stood up during John McCain’s GOP nomination acceptance speech and interrupted the TV broadcast.
None of these get much coverage.
Domestic Democrat terrorists plotted to kidnap delegates at the 2008 GOP convention and plotted to firebomb the convention. The perps were arrested and convicted prior to the election but again there was a media blackout. Odd that they gave a whole lot more ink to the Ron Paulian who scarred her own face and claimed that it was done by an Obama supporter. The cases were both contemporary news items (same week).
No I didn't advocate anything, but made a suggestion on how to get past losing sleep and eventually losing the battle. You sound like one of the people we see on the morning news that takes a shotgun to a place to even a score with the boss.
As a conservative, most of us realize that someone that spends the time and money to own their own business is free to make whatever rules they want. We don't have to remain customers of said business, but to force them to do what you want will just bring more frustrations on you. Sometimes you can beat them by being clever, but why worry about it? If I had a pic of Hitlers car, why not name it "so and so Mercedes"? It's obvious the bots hit on "Hitler". If you need to find it to post, you already know that that year was Hitlers car. To force PhotoBucket to accept "Hitler" in the title would bring in pics of the Klan and Skinheads that they obviously don't want to host.
Go to your local restaurant and walk in with no shoes and shirt. You will find out they they really don't have to serve everybody. Call the cops, file a law suit, do what you want and you will still be hungry.
Wow. You have some serious projection issues, chuckles.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.