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would it be smart to start a images host?

Allowee

Allowee

New Member
I'm thinking of starting my own images host.

but would it be smart.
I don't know how much I will allow to be uploaded. max filesize will be 0,5Mb.

The current scripts I wrote will inform me about new signups.
then i can accept or reject them.

but when I accept a user he could upload 0,5Mb parts of illegal files.
I would only be able to see whats going on when I'm online.

I was thinking of a system to validate those uploaded files, and then allow public access to them.
but when I'm not online I can't accept/reject files.

so are there any ideas on how to setup an images host that is 'secure'

I could create a script which will get the file from a secure directory and log the size, and so limit the amout of traffic.

but when there is a small file, used a lot, I need to log all those requests. which will make everything run slow.
 
get some moderators for this. they validate all new images and it will be shown then! It is a suggestion. But it is hardly to find good moderators for this! Good work
 
If you do it, set the size to 100k, that is plenty big enough for an image. Most want it for forums, so 100k is plenty. (too much in my opinion but...) :)
 
You can obviously limit the filesize and you can also limit the types of files that people upload, eg only allow .gif, .jpg, .png etc so people then can't really upload anything damaging, the only concern you'll have is people uploading porn.

As long as you are able to check what's been uploaded once a day and delete what's not suitable, i don't think you'll have a problem.
 
I typed out some of the possible problems you can have with an image host in another thread a little while back.

The biggest problems would be using the images in spam or some form of unacceptable sexual imagery.
Take a look at the file specifications of the most commonly used types (bmp, gif, png and jpeg). All of them have a few bytes at the start of the file that you can check to make sure it's a valid file and not a renamed zip. It's still possible to embed other files into an authentic image but I doubt anyone would go to that much trouble.
Another problem you'll probably have to deal with if you have limits (in total space or allowed transfer) is that people are going to be signing up for multiple accounts.
 
Originally posted by CareBear
It's still possible to embed other files into an authentic image but I doubt anyone would go to that much trouble.
Click to expand...
Webdude's Warez Hunter has detected them in 25kb .jpg files, so people will try, believe me :angry2:
 
ok, I got enough info......

I won't start the project....

I can't risk my account for illegal media...

Thanks
 
Don't get too discouraged if it's something you want to do :).
Just tighten your criteria.. you could limit it to just people you know or ask that they show you the site they're planning to hotlink to (for a blog for example) or only accept a signup from an ISP address and not hotmail and a like.
You'll probably just need to keep a tight watch on it, or team up with others to share some of that burden so it doesn't become a nuisance to keep checking what people uploaded every day.
 
Allowee, there's problems with ANYTHING you try to do on the net. I think it's a good idea because it's very very rare to find a good images host anywhere nowadays, and if you team up with some moderators (*ahem* I could help) then you could get a great service going even if you are hosting it on your PI 90MHz ;)
 
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