Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

[andre.gunther@gmail.com]

Hello,

unfortunately I am a customer of Yahoo Webhosting. They don't offer
scripting or any meaningful server controls.
I have a photo website and I have serious problems with leachers now.
Those guys at xanga.com hotlink to my free desktop wallpapers, thus
generating a lot of traffic. I need to block this somehow, but I have
no idea how to do it on the yahoo webhosting (I am not even sure if
they are running apache or IIS).
Does anyone know a way I could prevent hotlinking?
The only way I know of would be to make all large downloads as zip
files. I would appreciate a better solution though.

Thanks
Andre

http://www.aguntherphotography.com

[Benjamin Niemann]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

andre.gunther@g mail.com wrote:
[color=blue]
> unfortunately I am a customer of Yahoo Webhosting. They don't offer
> scripting or any meaningful server controls.
> I have a photo website and I have serious problems with leachers now.
> Those guys at xanga.com hotlink to my free desktop wallpapers, thus
> generating a lot of traffic. I need to block this somehow, but I have
> no idea how to do it on the yahoo webhosting (I am not even sure if
> they are running apache or IIS).
> Does anyone know a way I could prevent hotlinking?
> The only way I know of would be to make all large downloads as zip
> files. I would appreciate a better solution though.[/color]

Not a HTML related question, but...

This could easily been done with mod_rewrite, if the server is apache and
this module is enabled.
Create a '.htaccess' file (if you do not already have one) and put the line
'RewriteEngine On' into it. Upload it into a directory of your site (you
may create a dummy dir, if you don't want to disrupt your site).
If you then open a document in this directory in your browser and you do
*not* get a message like '500 Internal server error' (which would indicate
that apache does not understand the 'RewriteEngine' directive, because
mod_rewrite is not loaded), you're almost there.
Now search google for 'mod_rewrite hotlinking' - some of the top hits look
pretty useful for your next steps.

If you there's no mod_rewrite - look for another hoster.

--
Benjamin Niemann
Email: pink at odahoda dot de
WWW: http://www.odahoda.de/

[Adrienne]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

Gazing into my crystal ball I observed andre.gunther@g mail.com writing in
news:1119373305 .127899.275040@ g43g2000cwa.goo glegroups.com:
[color=blue]
> Hello,
>
> unfortunately I am a customer of Yahoo Webhosting. They don't offer
> scripting or any meaningful server controls.
> I have a photo website and I have serious problems with leachers now.
> Those guys at xanga.com hotlink to my free desktop wallpapers, thus
> generating a lot of traffic. I need to block this somehow, but I have
> no idea how to do it on the yahoo webhosting (I am not even sure if
> they are running apache or IIS).
> Does anyone know a way I could prevent hotlinking?
> The only way I know of would be to make all large downloads as zip
> files. I would appreciate a better solution though.
>
> Thanks
> Andre
> http://www.aguntherphotography.com
>[/color]

According to Netcraft, the server your site is on is "running unknown on
FreeBSD", so you might be able to use mod-rewrite.

The other thing you can do is rename the images in question. That should
stop it for a little while, at least until they realize you've been tricky.

As an aside, I would lighten the text on the menus. I can barely make them
out.



--
Adrienne Boswell

http://www.cavalcade-of-coding.info

Please respond to the group so others can share

[andre.gunther@gmail.com]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

Adrienne wrote:[color=blue]
> Gazing into my crystal ball I observed andre.gunther@g mail.com writing in
> news:1119373305 .127899.275040@ g43g2000cwa.goo glegroups.com:
>[color=green]
> > Hello,
> >
> > unfortunately I am a customer of Yahoo Webhosting. They don't offer
> > scripting or any meaningful server controls.
> > I have a photo website and I have serious problems with leachers now.
> > Those guys at xanga.com hotlink to my free desktop wallpapers, thus
> > generating a lot of traffic. I need to block this somehow, but I have
> > no idea how to do it on the yahoo webhosting (I am not even sure if
> > they are running apache or IIS).
> > Does anyone know a way I could prevent hotlinking?
> > The only way I know of would be to make all large downloads as zip
> > files. I would appreciate a better solution though.
> >
> > Thanks
> > Andre
> > http://www.aguntherphotography.com
> >[/color]
>
> According to Netcraft, the server your site is on is "running unknown on
> FreeBSD", so you might be able to use mod-rewrite.
>
> The other thing you can do is rename the images in question. That should
> stop it for a little while, at least until they realize you've been tricky.
>
> As an aside, I would lighten the text on the menus. I can barely make them
> out.
>[/color]
Hello Adrienne,
thanks for the reply. That was very useful. I was not aware, that one
could check the server this way.
I already renamed the image folders yesterday, and today I changed all
wallpapers to zip files. This should give me some time to play with the
..htaccess file.
I never thought, people would be so reckless and not even check the
copyright information clearly posted on my website before stealing my
stuff and my bandwidth.
Thanks again.

Andre

http://www.aguntherphotography.com

[andre.gunther@gmail.com]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

[color=blue][color=green]
> >[/color]
>
> According to Netcraft, the server your site is on is "running unknown on
> FreeBSD", so you might be able to use mod-rewrite.
>
> The other thing you can do is rename the images in question. That should
> stop it for a little while, at least until they realize you've been tricky.
>
> As an aside, I would lighten the text on the menus. I can barely make them
> out.[/color]

Damn Yahoo. They won't let me upload the .htaccess file. The ftp claims
this is an illegal name. File names are not to start with '.'.
Guess I will have to change my hosting provider now.

Andre

[Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

In <1119408573.054 220.206290@z14g 2000cwz.googleg roups.com>, on
06/21/2005
at 07:49 PM, andre.gunther@g mail.com said:
[color=blue]
>I never thought, people would be so reckless and not even check the
>copyright information clearly posted on my website before stealing my
>stuff and my bandwidth.[/color]

First, we've had thieves for thousands of years, and software thieves
for decades. Second, if they are redirecting requests to your site
then there is no copyright issue, just theft and fraud issues. They're
not reckless because there is little chance of prosecution or even of
a civil suit; the prosecutors don't like to get involved in white
collar crime and a private suit would cost you more than you would
recover. You might try sending a DMCA[1] notice to the thief's
provider if she/he/it is in the USA.

BTW, the next time that this happens, don't just rename the files;
replace them with something appropriate, e.g., contact information for
the thief's provider and a request to complain.

[1] It's a terrible law and should be repealed, but I see nothing
wrong with using it in your case.

--
Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz, SysProg and JOAT <http://patriot.net/~shmuel>

Unsolicited bulk E-mail subject to legal action. I reserve the
right to publicly post or ridicule any abusive E-mail. Reply to
domain Patriot dot net user shmuel+news to contact me. Do not
reply to spamtrap@librar y.lspace.org

[Tim]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

On 21 Jun 2005 21:37:56 -0700,
andre.gunther@g mail.com posted:
[color=blue]
> Damn Yahoo. They won't let me upload the .htaccess file. The ftp claims
> this is an illegal name. File names are not to start with '.'.
> Guess I will have to change my hosting provider now.[/color]

Is that a complaint from the server, or the program you're trying to
transfer the files with? Can you try uploading the file as "htaccess" then
rename it to ".htaccess" ?

I dare say, though, that you'll be able to find much better hosts.

--
If you insist on e-mailing me, use the reply-to address (it's real but
temporary). But please reply to the group, like you're supposed to.

This message was sent without a virus, please delete some files yourself.

[Joel Shepherd]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

In article <1119408573.054 220.206290@z14g 2000cwz.googleg roups.com>,
andre.gunther@g mail.com wrote:
[color=blue]
> I never thought, people would be so reckless and not even check the
> copyright information clearly posted on my website before stealing my
> stuff and my bandwidth.[/color]

Well, if it's on the internet, it's free for all, right? No? Hmm... ;-)

Seriously though: have you sent the folks at xanga.com a nice note
asking them to "please stop it, now"?

--
Joel.

[dwight.stegall@gmail.com]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

If you there's no mod_rewrite and you don't want to change hosts
another possibility exsits. Simply change the subdirectory names
occasionally at random times of the month or year by adding a number to
them. Rename the subdirectory and use the replace function of your HTML
editor to make the changes in your pages. This will break all links to
your images immediately. But the problem exists that you will have to
keep doing this.

[andre]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

Tim wrote:[color=blue]
> On 21 Jun 2005 21:37:56 -0700,
> andre.gunther@g mail.com posted:
>
>[color=green]
>>Damn Yahoo. They won't let me upload the .htaccess file. The ftp claims
>>this is an illegal name. File names are not to start with '.'.
>>Guess I will have to change my hosting provider now.[/color]
>
>
> Is that a complaint from the server, or the program you're trying to
> transfer the files with? Can you try uploading the file as "htaccess" then
> rename it to ".htaccess" ?
>
> I dare say, though, that you'll be able to find much better hosts.
>[/color]
It is the server. After failing to upload it with Dreamweaver i tried it
from the console and got a message from the ftp server. I also tried
renaming it. Thanks for the recommendations though.
I am already looking into switching to godaddy.com. Any other hosts that
might be interesting to me?

Andre

--
----------------------------------

http://www.aguntherphotography.com

[andre]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

Joel Shepherd wrote:[color=blue]
> In article <1119408573.054 220.206290@z14g 2000cwz.googleg roups.com>,
> andre.gunther@g mail.com wrote:
>
>[color=green]
>>I never thought, people would be so reckless and not even check the
>>copyright information clearly posted on my website before stealing my
>>stuff and my bandwidth.[/color]
>
>
> Well, if it's on the internet, it's free for all, right? No? Hmm... ;-)
>
> Seriously though: have you sent the folks at xanga.com a nice note
> asking them to "please stop it, now"?
>[/color]
I checked out their website setting up a blog myself. It basically asks
to provide a http address for a background image for your blog so I
guess its all the individuals who are responsible. There are simply too
many for me to contact each of them.

Andre

--
----------------------------------

http://www.aguntherphotography.com

[andre]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz wrote:[color=blue]
> In <1119408573.054 220.206290@z14g 2000cwz.googleg roups.com>, on
> 06/21/2005
> at 07:49 PM, andre.gunther@g mail.com said:
>
>[color=green]
>>I never thought, people would be so reckless and not even check the
>>copyright information clearly posted on my website before stealing my
>>stuff and my bandwidth.[/color]
>
>
> First, we've had thieves for thousands of years, and software thieves
> for decades. Second, if they are redirecting requests to your site
> then there is no copyright issue, just theft and fraud issues. They're
> not reckless because there is little chance of prosecution or even of
> a civil suit; the prosecutors don't like to get involved in white
> collar crime and a private suit would cost you more than you would
> recover. You might try sending a DMCA[1] notice to the thief's
> provider if she/he/it is in the USA.
>
> BTW, the next time that this happens, don't just rename the files;
> replace them with something appropriate, e.g., contact information for
> the thief's provider and a request to complain.
>
> [1] It's a terrible law and should be repealed, but I see nothing
> wrong with using it in your case.
>[/color]
I was mainly concerned about the bandwidth. They sucked up double digit
GB/mo and that was simply too much. I don't mind them stealing my stuff
as long as they don't make money with their websites and its only a
hobby I don't care. I dont want someone to use my work to generate
profit and not even ask me about it.

Anyways, guess I will say goddbye to yahoo hosting soon.

--
----------------------------------

http://www.aguntherphotography.com

[Terry Stockdale]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 03:15:02 GMT, andre <andre.gunther@ sbcglobal.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>Tim wrote:[color=green]
>> On 21 Jun 2005 21:37:56 -0700,
>> andre.gunther@g mail.com posted:
>>
>>[color=darkred]
>>>Damn Yahoo. They won't let me upload the .htaccess file. The ftp claims
>>>this is an illegal name. File names are not to start with '.'.
>>>Guess I will have to change my hosting provider now.[/color]
>>
>>
>> Is that a complaint from the server, or the program you're trying to
>> transfer the files with? Can you try uploading the file as "htaccess" then
>> rename it to ".htaccess" ?
>>
>> I dare say, though, that you'll be able to find much better hosts.
>>[/color]
>It is the server. After failing to upload it with Dreamweaver i tried it
>from the console and got a message from the ftp server. I also tried
>renaming it. Thanks for the recommendations though.
>I am already looking into switching to godaddy.com. Any other hosts that
>might be interesting to me?
>
>Andre[/color]

That message is probably from the FrontPage Extensions. Use FTP to
upload that individual file.

If you want a good FTP program (as opposed to using the FTP
capabilities in Windows Explorer), I recommend FileZilla from
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net .

Terry
My website: http://www.terrystockdale.com
My free newsletter: http://www.terryscomputertips.com

[andre.gunther@gmail.com]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

[color=blue]
> That message is probably from the FrontPage Extensions. Use FTP to
> upload that individual file.
>
> If you want a good FTP program (as opposed to using the FTP
> capabilities in Windows Explorer), I recommend FileZilla from
> http://filezilla.sourceforge.net .
>
> Terry
> My website: http://www.terrystockdale.com
> My free newsletter: http://www.terryscomputertips.com[/color]


Hi Terry,

i think not. I used a console to upload and still got the message.
Anyways, time to switch.
Has anyone heard about midPhase.com. Their offer seems incredible.

Andre

[Dr John Stockton]

Re: Hotlinking on Yahoo Webhosting

JRS: In article <1119475066.755 205.56330@o13g2 000cwo.googlegr oups.com>,
dated Wed, 22 Jun 2005 14:17:46, seen in news:comp.infos ystems.www.autho
ring.html, dwight.stegall@ gmail.com posted :
[color=blue]
>If you there's no mod_rewrite and you don't want to change hosts
>another possibility exsits. Simply change the subdirectory names
>occasionally at random times of the month or year by adding a number to
>them. Rename the subdirectory and use the replace function of your HTML
>editor to make the changes in your pages. This will break all links to
>your images immediately. But the problem exists that you will have to
>keep doing this.[/color]

If everything other than a brief index.htm is in a subdirectory tree
TYYYYMMDD/*.*, and site addressing is internally properly relative, and
if YYYYMMDD is changed frequently, then ISTM that legitimate access via
index.htm will be easy but inappropriate access will not.

The pages, other than index.htm, will not need to be changed themselves;
and, if directories on the server can be renamed, will not need re-
uploading. It may, however, have an adverse effect on search engine
users.

Put the date in ISO form, and the average American will never understand
it; even better, use ISO week number short form, YYYYWWN.

An HTML replace function is not essential; other tools can also do it.
It would be easy enough to write a DOS batch file to do the whole
preparation with MiniTrue, for example.


echo.|date|mtr -x+ -o .*(\d\d)/(\d\d)/(\d\d\d\d).* = "set D=\3\2\1"

generated set D=20050623 which could be redirected to $$$.BAT and
executed.

--
© John Stockton, Surrey, UK. ?@merlyn.demon. co.uk Turnpike v4.00 MIME. ©
Web <URL:http://www.merlyn.demo n.co.uk/> - FAQish topics, acronyms, & links.
I find MiniTrue useful for viewing/searching/altering files, at a DOS prompt;
free, DOS/Win/UNIX, <URL:http://www.idiotsdelig ht.net/minitrue/> Update hope?