Elaine, are you saying that the thumbnail
in the message was
directly linked to Adultfriendfinder?!
In other words, did you click a thumbnail, posted by a legitimate member, in a message on your forum, and it opened a page on Adultfriendfinder, instead of the full size image?!
You will have to excuse the questions, because if the above is what happened, then it is either posted by a spammer, or there has been some kind of error in the automatic thumbnail-link system from Postimage.org.
So, please make a test on your forum: Post an image, and see where the thumbnail takes you, when you click it.
Postimage.org are indeed sponsored by Adultfriendfinder, since a couple of months or so, but what should happen is this:
When you click the thumbnail, to get the full size image, there will be a sponsor link from Adultfriendfinder at the top of the pop-up window, above the full size image. This link will in turn take you to some "adult" type ads, on an ICRA protected site (see further down).
This sponsoring and link was added by Postimage.org at some time late this summer, without warning, and thus long after ForumUp started to use their free service. In other words, ForumUp does not have a contract or any kind of "deal" with Postimage, and there is therefore nothing ForumUp can do about their choice of ads; nor is there a way for ForumUp to block the links from the full size pop-ups.
The reason to use Postimage in the first place, is that they provide a service that happens to have the unusual advantage of the link and thumbnail being automatically entered into the message, which makes it much more user friendly than for example Photobucket, where you have to sort out what link to use, and copy and paste it yourself, into the message. To find a similar service is not all that easy, and it may be in vain, as far as the "adult" content sponsoring is concerned.
As you probably know, this is a constant, and at the moment also growing, problem all over the internet. "adult" content -- or links to same -- is sneaked in anywhere and everywhere. A lot of file and image hosting services are sponsored in this fashion, and if not, you never know when they will add such links or ads, as this example proves all to well.
In other words, we are looking into it, but it may prove complicated to find a solution; especially a lasting one.
Meanwhile, there are some things that you and your users can do, and should do, also for other reasons, if needed:
On your computers it should be possible to block the pages that come up when you click the sponsor links. Either by use of Parental control systems, or by blocking the URL in the firewall settings.
There are numerous "third party" links all over the internet -- also on "general sites" like Yahoo and MSN -- that need to be blocked that way, especially if kids are using the computers.
As mentioned above, Adultfriendfinder have ICRA protection, and an ICRA labeled site should not be possible to open if the parental control systems etc are in working order.
You can find information about ICRA here:
Only registered users can see links on this forum!
Register or Login on forum! |
| Quote: |
| also , some of my members say that they get warnings on the forum up site about spyware. |
This is usually because of links in the profiles of spambots, that have registered on your forum, and perhaps even on other forums on the same domain, depending on how the security system is "reading" the links. And in some cases it can also be in connection to the Ads and the pop-up windows and such. There is in any case no spyware embedded in ForumUp's pages.
FoxLeonard
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