as I am sure everyone is aware of by now, Photobucket has started "blackmailing" people for 3rd party hosting of pictures, and yes, I am one of those victims...
What is funny, as they started out as a host for 3rd party pictures on forums such as this one, blogs, etc.. this was their primary purpose on the internet.
Now all of a sudden they want everyone that has done so, for many years - some free, some not - now they want $399 per year to be able to do that. Needless to say, the pricing is ridiculously high and people are leaving them in droves over it.
I, personally, have downloaded all of my pictures to an external HD, and deleted my account with them. Obviously, there are now placeholders for any pictures that were hosted on photobucket - and for that I apologize. Not sure where I will go for picture hosting now, or if I will go anywhere.. to irritated to even think about it right now.