As many posters will have noticed by now a large number of images on the forum have been replaced by an image saying "PLEASE UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT TO ENABLE 3RD PARTY HOSTING",

This is a preemptive action taken by Photobucket and is affecting users and sites all across the Internet.

Photobucket have, without warning, changed their Terms and Conditions and no longer allow hot-linking of images on any account other than their most expensive offering. This is the P500 plan and costs $399 per year.

As Photobucket host over 10 billion images the knock-on effects have been huge.

Photobucket defines "third-party hosting" as embedding an image on another website. This will not only effect forums but will also effect Ebay, Amazon, Craigslist and any other site where users have embedded photos which are hosted on Photobucket.

It is to be hoped that the backlash caused by this sudden and unannounced change will force Photobucket to think again and restore third-party hosting for all levels of user.

It's very important to be aware that no photos have been deleted, they are still available on your Photobucket account.

As no Photos have been deleted we ask you to please not delete any currently broken photo threads on Teakdoor as your photos will reappear on Teakdoor if Photobucket relax their new Terms and Conditions.

For those who would like to host their photos elsewhere they are welcome to host them in the Teakdoor gallery. For those who wish to link their photos to other websites there are a number of other image-hosting sites available. No doubt many TD members will be able to provide information and guidance on their own favourite image-hosting sites.