Hotlinking images is ok on Blogspot

Blogspot allows hotlinking and bandwith theft

[chrisv1963]

I filed DMCAs for several Blogspot blogs that were hotlinking my images. Hotlinking seems to be ok according to Blogspot's (= Google property) policies.

This is the reply I got:
"At this time, Google has decided not to take action based on our policies concerning content removal. As always, we encourage you to resolve any disputes directly with the owner of the website in question."

Great, Google wants me to ask that thief in Vietnam, Indonesia or China politely to stop stealing my bandwith.

A great example of how Google is supporting thiefs.

Anyhow, I am now serving an ugly 1200x1200 pixels image with the name of my website to replace hotlinked images ...

[nomis5]

Yesterday I file a DMCA against a a Blogspot who had reproduced one of my pages including hotlinking to six pictures.

Google responded within 4 hours that the content had been removed and sure enough it had.

Maybe Google have changed in the last couple of months.

[tangor]

Pretty fair explanation on how to deal with all hotlinkers: [imagehotlinking.com...]

[lucy24]

But, but, but there's no visceral satisfaction to just blocking them. You gotta hit them with something else. Doesn't have to be dirty, just painful to look at. You can achieve some really horrendous effects at next-to-no bandwidth with a 4-color png.

Still wish there were a way to replace an image with a non-image, though. I found a recording of a siren that would just hit the spot with repeat offenders. Heh, heh.

[nomis5]

Agree with lucy24. Although I did wonder about replacing my images with something offensive - what would Google images think about that? Many of my pics are in Google images already and if suddenly something offensive appears they are not going to appreciate it?