Not everyone has access to an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server with a near endless supply of bandwidth. When sharing pictures online, those without the benefit of an FTP server resort to using services such as ImageShack. This image hosting service is typically used to host forum avatars, family pictures, and other graphics.
However there are limitations to this service. Primarily, the alloted upload size is 1.5 megabytes. Additionally, the only file formats permitted is jpg, jpeg, png, gif, bmp, tif, tiff and swf. Granted this is a very generous service, especially considering it's free. Yet just when you thought the waters were safe from buccaneers, along comes The Pirate Bay.
Looking to one-up ImageShack, a new side project from some of the folks at The Pirate Bay has gone live. Their project is an image hosting site called BayIMG. Although similar to ImageShack, there's a few noteworthy differences.
Perhaps the most significant difference is the
100 megabyte file limitation. In these days of high definition cameras, where images are often larger than 1.5 megabytes, many will see this as the most welcoming change. Additionally, there's
virtually no file format limitation.
BayIMG has support for approximately 140 different file formats, including support for ZIP and RAR archives.
"You can upload about 140 different formats", BayIMG reads. "
There's even support for .RAR and .ZIP-archives! If you upload an archive with multiple images, you'll also get an album-address for all the pictures inside of it. Tags are separated by spaces, removal code is a password to let you remove images you upload."
Like most things that deal with The Pirate Bay, the rules and regulations governing uploaded files are at best relaxed. Copyright issues are not addressed, although a vague reference to "legal" files is mentioned on the home page.
"Bayimg.com is a place where you can host all your images. We do not censor them. We believe in freedom of speech, it's of utter importance to us. As long as your pictures are legal they will be hosted here, but we reserve the right to remove images due to technical reasons though. If something crashes here, you better have a backup yourself - hopefully that won't happen. Usually we know what we're doing."
Bandwidth limitations are not addressed on the FAQ section, however they too are most likely very relaxed. Does ImageShack have a serious competitor looming? If The Pirate Bay can turn the mighty copyright industry upside down, the next few months may prove interesting.
source:
http://www.slyck.com/story1497.html
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BayIMG's tag line is pretty
in your face:
NO COPYRIGHT. NO LICENSE.
If you visit the tag cloud (
http://bayimg.com/cloud) you'll notice that currently their most popular tag is "REBEL".
http://bayimg.com/tag/rebel
That's a whole lot of Rebel right there...