PLEASE, I'M DESPERATE.... ANYONE... :(

[Damien Hannah]

I really, really need to do something like right now. my members are going to jump ship (the professional ones that will skyrocket my site to magazine connections etc!!!!)

THIS IS MEGA IMPORTANT.

I just need to do SOMETHING.

1) option to add Watermark during photo upload,

2) disable right click, and

3)disable the photo screen that shows the full image (the one that seems to leave the network to view photo, favicon disappears.)

These three things will help signifcantly until such time as a server can be set to re process images before hitting ning servers, or when I have my own servers.

MY SITE CAN SKYROCKET IF I CAN FIGURE THIS OUT IMMEDIATELY!!

Please, please help me, anyone.... :(

[soaringeagle]

1 problem there

they dont even have to go to your ne\twork to "steal" the images as they will be accessinle on google unless ypu block them in your robots.txt or somwthing

and it doesnt take any skill at all to turn off javadcript or use a script blocker to block the script thats blocking right click

hell some ppl are so 8nskilled they domt know how to enable javascript so your right click blockers disabled by sheer ignoirance (althoigh there are people piout there so unskilled it can take hours to teach them how to right click and they can only accomplish this great feat by switching the hand thwey use on the mouse) (true story in fact i was doing tech support and it literaly took 6 hours to get 1 woman to right click and copy something)

i can guarantee that anyone at all who gave a shit about stealing your photos can steal them..wartermark or not right click or not

the only real protection u do have is the law

if the images are copywritten then you got the law on your side and any ilegal use is  punishable

now what u can do

use tynt to monitor copies

use cloudflare (i cant believe im suggesting cloudflare i hatre cloudflare) but they have advanced security including leeching protection

but in the end  if they wanna steal it the=y will

and a chiold can do it

i mean most hackers are around 12 years old  many nearly skilled enough to break into the dod 

i doubt most would care about stealing your pictures but the more of a challenge u make it the more likely they are gonna try just to prove they can

a freind once told me  he used to worry about hackers alot (he was 1 at 1 point)  he hasd security  ontop of security  on his pc  (dont know why since it ws only  several hundred gigs of porn..yea he was an addict)

but then 1 day he realized the simple solution wot\rked best he took off all the firewalls and instead put a hackers.txt file in every folder on his pc ..the hackers text said welcome hackers feel free to look around take what you want use what  u feel yiu can use  just please leave things the way you found them

he never had any issues after that

your best security is a simple statement in the header

all images are copywritten not to be used for comercial gain withoit prior permission

then give them a contact form to request permission

[Jelena]

Very interesting. discussion. Soaringeagle He's right on his Opinion. my network name are registered. and copyright. I expend some extra money to get the trademark of  my Network name. I see and you can get any photograph from any site if you want it. no matter how big or strong is your protection in your site.

[Damien Hannah]

Makes total sense SoaringEagle. I know there's no true way to protect photos, but right click and screen shot are the most commonly worried about by people that don't really know what's available for thieves to use as "tools."

I have made very clear on my network that ultimately, I've done what I'm able to at this current time, when I have better finances and my network grows more successful, I will pay/hire for even more security or better practices. This gives those that want upgrades to security inspiration to bring more attention to the network. A few of my members have started their own campaigns, blogs, etc. to help advertise the network. I also explain that when anyone chooses to post something online, it's basically out there for the taking, because if someone wants it bad enough, they'll find away. Ultimately it's your choice to use my network, and you understand that if you use the network, your work may get taken,. simply don't upload photos you don't want stolen.

They agree to this, and the members that complained in the first place are completely satisfied with the security I have implemented, and how fast I acted on it. It may not be a lot, but the members just want to see that something will happen if they point out a problem.

Again, I agree with all of you. Guess it depends on your members, and what they are willing to agree to. Protect yourself in your terms of agreement, and do your best to provide what your members ask for.

The tips provided in this thread have helped me personally on my network, and may not be ideal for other networks. For what I needed though, it is working very well. :)

Thank you so much everyone for all of your inputs! Very educational and appreciated! Cheers!

[Riccardo Rossini]

Damien, listen to me. It's not a Ning problem, you can tell to your members that there's no way to preserve their photo in the web. They have to post picture in low resolution and control .

I give you an example, in this site it was disabled right click

http://stefanocandotti.circolofotografico.eu/category/galleria/

Here you are one of the picture inside it...

[Damien Hannah]

I understand this Riccardo. Never said it was Ning's problem. I am looking for a few tools to make things more efficient, and give my members what they are asking for.

I've stated that I have told my members that they are ultimately responsible for what they've chosen to upload. Pictures can not be 100% protected. However, do I just stop there? NO. I want to go above and beyond what the bare minimum is. If I can provide these tools to my members, my reputation continues to grow, my members are happy, etc.

I know it is not Ning's responsibility or problem. Never said it was. But they are our Gods, and we have to ask to receive anything.

I understand what's going on here. I've asked a question, gotten my answer, and if you read my above replies, you'll see that I have covered all of these concerns, and I do understand what the deal is.

Thanks Riccardo, appreciate your feedback.

[JFarrow]

look at my photos for example http://landsurveyorsunited.com/photo/ukraine-land-surveying?context...

click on View Fullsize and you'll see a bar across the top (which you can customize on Visibli.com) with back button...  this may help...

as for watermark, i believe there are any number of jquery plugins which may accomplish this for you

[soaringeagle]

this got me thinking so i added this to my tos and im going to add a all materials copyrighted see our tos link on top of every page

added to tos----

All images text and videos on dreadlockssite as well as the api.ning.com cdn are copyrighted

All images, text and videos displayed on dreadlockssite its subdomains and content delivery networks (cdn like api.ning.com) are copyrighted. The copyright agreement  is as follows:

1: professional photographers who copyright their photos then upload to dreadlockssite retain full copyright rights, in the case of infringement dreadlockssite may act as a mediator in the dispute resolution process.

2: non copyrighted materials when uploaded or added via blog posts forum discussions or any other content creation process shall be considered dual copyrighted with an implied 50/50 ownership agreement between the uploader or content creator and dreadlockssite.

use of copyrighted materials:

any copyrighted materials from dreadlkockssite may be used for non commercial purposes provided a link to its original location is provided.

Special use rules may apply, in the case of humor sites that wish to use the materials in a mocking or insulting way permission must be obtained 1st.

commercial use:

for commercial use permission is always required.

commercial use includes any and all use that results in any monetary gain including from advertising on the site.

To obtain permission dreadlockssite must be contacted the content owner consulted, and any applicable fees negotiated.

Since ownership of all materials on dreadlockssite are a 50/50 ownership, the default agreement would be to split any and all obtained commercial use fees equally. however this is negotiable between dreadlockssite and the content creator.

copyright infringement

any and all infringement on the above copyright agreement will result in actions that may include:

a request to remove such materials, or

a request for a fee for continued use, or

legal actions and/or copyright infringement lawsuits.

[Riccardo Rossini]

This is a more intelligent approach to the problem.

Damien, just today we have found a stoler (http://www.fotografiapuntodincontro.com/forum/topics/per-favore-basta) use google translator. The only way to protect your member is to ask them help, and using some important instruments for your browser (for firefox):

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/google-search-by-image/ (right click on the image and "search with google", one of the reason to avoid to disable right click);

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/fxif/ (one more time, right click on the full size image and "view exif" to verify tpe of camera and copyright)

As you can see, right click is the solution, not the problem. Tell it to your members

[Riccardo Rossini]

To ning I'm asking an automatic limiter for uploaded photo (we are using the screening to avoid your problem, but it request an overload for moderators) and a button or a window where you can see authomatically exif datas.

http://creators.ning.com/group/creators-suggestions-for-ning/forum/...

http://creators.ning.com/forum/topics/exif-viewer-1?xg_source=activity

[Damien Hannah]

That's very good SoaringEagle! Good terms. In all of my research lately, the most important thing is to protect yourself in the court of law, and help the members understand that they too must protect themselves.

It's so important.

I just deleted some London 2012 Olympics photos from my network. Turns out they have very strict laws about the display of their logo on Social Networks, not limited to Facebook, Twitter, etc. They will sue for up to $20 000 without blinking.

We need to learn the rules of the world we are diving into (social network ownership)

It may be fun, pride inspiring, and maybe even your paycheck, but it's also very dangerous if you are un-aware of the laws surrounding the services you offer.

Perhaps I'll start a thread soon about this very thing. There's likely a lot of situations with a lot of Creators that could get them sued big time. Hopefully not, but I bet there is. Something as simple as the Olympic Rings Logo can end everything you've tried so hard and so long to build.

Knowledge is power, without power, the lights go out.