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I just happened across a couple unauthorized links from eBay auctions
directly to images of sets hosted on the lugnet.com server. What people are
doing is linking from various places (mostly eBay auctions) directly to the
JPEG images. This is a big "no-no": it's against general web netiquette
and it's also something I have always for years advised people against,
whenever they have asked, or been caught.
In addition to the fact that URLs of the other peoples' images are always
subject to change at any time without notice, it's really unethical to link
directly to other peoples' images without their permission, since they are
stuck with the bill for the bandwidth, yet they receive nothing in return.
Instead of embedding images hosted on other peoples' servers, people should
link to the other peoples' web pages -- or make a local copy of the image
they want (presumably with permission from the copyright owner) and host it
on their own homepage (on geocities or the auction site or wherever). Note:
I don't own the copyright on the LEGO images, so don't ask me for permission
to copy it; use your own judgment as governed by TLG's "Fair Play" policy.
In the past, I knew that this sort of funny-business was happening from time
to time, but I never really paid it much concern because it wasn't really
eating much bandwidth. However, times have changed: I just ran a script to
check where things stand today, and here are the results:
Over the past 2 weeks, 761 megabytes of JPEG image transfers occurred to
off-site pages embedding the images without permission. This is still a
long way from representing a "break-the-bank" level of link-piracy, but
nevertheless it's beginning to get out-of-hand.
The robust, long-term solution is to serve the JPEG images selectively to
on-site pages and reject them to off-site pages, using an Apache webserver
module called "mod_rewrite" and looking at the HTTP referrer field on-the-
fly; or invoking a CGI script whenever an image is requested, and optionally
doing more advanced filtering.
The less-robust, short-term solution is simply to rename the image
directories, thus breaking all of the bad links. This would certainly stop
the problem, but doing that is like mowing over a weed rather than digging
it up by the roots -- the problem will come right back to full intensity in
a couple weeks.
Probably both will happen -- first the short-term solution and later the
long-term solution. I'm not going to personally write everyone who's doing
unauthorized linking (I don't think they deserve any warning, anyway); this
message serves as the only "notice" to freeloaders...
--Todd
[followups set to lugnet.admin.general]
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Message has 9 Replies:
 | | Re: Cracking down on unauthorized image links
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| (...) Just to make sure, since you don't open the copyright on the LEGO images listed on Lugnet you don't have a problem with me downloading them, then hosting them on a machine of my own, right? Not asking you for permission, I'm just asking for (...) (25 years ago, 2-Jun-99, to lugnet.admin.general)
| | | Re: Cracking down on unauthorized image links
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| (...) Auctions are ephemeral so this is not that big a deal in the long run. You can make a utility argument to discourage those that don't see why it is WRONG. (...) This really is the crux. Now, I have to confess, I think there is a very slight (...) (25 years ago, 2-Jun-99, to lugnet.admin.general)
| | | Re: Cracking down on unauthorized image links
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| I need to have something clarified: Is it ok to tell people to go to www.lugnet.com and do a search for a set (not a direct link)? I don't sell too many completed sets on eBay, but I would like to know for future reference...like when I find a (...) (25 years ago, 3-Jun-99, to lugnet.admin.general)
| | | Re: Cracking down on unauthorized image links
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| (...) OK, this evening I just wrote a little CGI script to do this for images in the sets-DB. So, the dynamically generated HTML pages, i.e. (URL) link to this CGI script -- which acts as a buffer -- rather than to the raw JPEG image file. Thus, the (...) (25 years ago, 3-Jun-99, to lugnet.admin.general)
| | | Re: Cracking down on unauthorized image links
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| Hi Todd, (...) Even though I have to admit that I have used direct image links (but with credit for the source) in some of my eBay auctions, I have to agree with this argument, and will copy images in the future. (...) Looks like you already have (...) (25 years ago, 9-Jun-99, to lugnet.admin.general)
| | | Re: Cracking down on unauthorized image links
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| I just want to know what you used on the server to stup the refers... -- Z. Unger dzz@mindspring.com ICQ: 14375008 ===...=== LEGO Fusion : (URL) Universe : (URL) leads to hate, hate leads to anger, anger leads to suffering... Todd Lehman (...) (25 years ago, 9-Jun-99, to lugnet.admin.general)
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