Has Fotopic died again

 
I've used Zenfolio for years now, definitely recommend it. Can send you over a referral code if you want, you get 10% off the sign up charge :)
 
well i have most of my pics back online and viewable.. not ideal as using a very early beta test system.. but will get better with time... set all the pics to archive and using my own hosting and gallery system for more recent..

when i say my own system i mean a well edited script i found on the web :)
 
FOTOPIC.NET BOSS TELLS PHOTOGRAPHERS: IT'S NO TECHNICAL PROBLEM
Home » News » Fotopic.net boss tells photographers: It’s no technical problem
Thursday 31st March 2011
Chris Cheesman


The boss of image-sharing website fotopic.net has today failed to reassure users about the fate of thousands of their images.

NEWS UPDATE: Fotopic.net heads for liquidation

It is estimated that up to 70,000 images have vanished from fotopic.net without warning - many users paying a premium rate for an account with the website.

Yesterday we photographers' fears that the company behind the site has hit the buffers and ceased trading.

This morning Amateur Photographer (AP) tracked down Stephen Dyer, director of Snappy Designs which owns fotopic.net.

AP relayed photographers' outrage over the apparent loss of their images as they clamour for information and try to contact the website's owner without success.

Here is a transcript of AP's call to Dyer, made at 8.30am today, in which he refused to answer many of our questions.

AP: You are the director of the company that owns fotopic.net. Do you know what's happened to the website and why it has disappeared?

Dyer: Yes I do, and I'm hoping to make a public statement about it. There are legal matters to be sorted out.

AP: Is the company in financial trouble? There is concern that it has ceased trading.

Dyer: I understand where you are coming from. I don't want to make a comment … [until the legal matters are resolved].

AP: There's a lot of people complaining because thousands of their pictures have disappeared. Do you know how long they will have to wait to get them back? Is the site going to reappear?

Dyer: I don't know. Obviously I'm doing my best. I would rather speak to you later today.

AP: People have paid a lot of money for a premium account. Will they get a refund?

Dyer: I will happily speak to you as soon as I can.

AP: Can you confirm that the company is still trading?
Dyer: I will give you all the information I can, when I can. I'm not being difficult…


AP: So it's not a technical problem with the website server then?

Dyer: It's true to say it's not a technical problem.

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.u...ers_Its_no_technical_problem_news_306612.html
 
Then..

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.u...oing_into_liquidation_update_news_306622.html

FOTOPIC.NET OWNER GOING INTO LIQUIDATION (UPDATE2)
Home » News » Fotopic.net owner going into liquidation (update2)
Thursday 31st March 2011
Chris Cheesman



Snappy Designs Ltd, which owns the image-sharing website Fotopic.net, is heading for liquidation, director Stephen Dyer has confirmed.

Dyer was forced to issue a public statement after Amateur Photographer (AP) tracked down the Fotopic.net boss earlier today.

The Fotopic.net website holds hundreds of thousands of images that users have not been able to access for weeks.

Estimates of the number of pictures missing vary wildly.

A source has suggested to AP that Fotopic.net holds up to two million images and had thousands of active users at a given time.

One user, who did not wish to be named, said he held 33,000 images on fotopic.net and knew of others who had stored up to 100,000 pictures there.

Though some gallery accounts were free to use, Fotopic.net charged a subscription fee for some features of around £50 a year.

In his statement on behalf of Snappy Designs Ltd, Dyer said: 'The company has ceased trading due to an unexpected, significant decrease in revenue and I apologise that our efforts to recover from this have not been successful.'

The news will end speculation that the website may have merely suffered a temporary technical problem with its server.

Snappy Designs Ltd has appointed Jeremy Bleazard of XL Business Solutions, based in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire as liquidator.

Dyer claims that photographers will be able to access their material 'in the near future' if the liquidator manages to sell the business.

Whether Fotopic.net customers will see their images again is far from guaranteed, however.

Even if the business is sold, the website that hosts Fotopic.net would have to agree to the transfer of images, said Bleazard in an interview with AP.

Bleazard said he has yet to speak to the third party 'web hoster' and was not able to confirm their name to AP when asked.

Bleazard estimates that Fotopic.net holds around 30,000 pictures, though he was not able to confirm this figure, nor the total number of customers.

Among the victims is Richard Hall who said he paid Fotopic.net £90 for a 'Premier Service' and renewed his subscription only recently.

Hall paid £45 a year for extra features offered by the service.

The site also enabled photographers to sell their pictures or buy extra memory to store the digital files, for example.

'It's not a lot of money but a lot of time was taken, on an ongoing basis, editing, uploading and captioning photos... All this now appears lost,' said the photography enthusiast.

He added: 'Some people used the site for business purposes. They must have been really hit by all of this.'

Fotopic.net is reported to have had its origins in a website dating back to 1999.
Click to expand...
 
Bunch of theives, they even sent out masses of reminders early to people who paid for accounts 2 days before it crashed into oblivion, i paid for a 3 month renewal the day it went down but i actually paid 1 month early and many others also got their renewal emails early and just paid, these theives did this on purpose knowing they were going under, rake the cash in, crash the business and go into liquidation owing sod all.
 
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