[Leica] Is the gallery down?

[Peter Dzwig]

Is it worth considering putting both behind different VPNs (i.e. 
Different server virtual addresses)?

Peter

On 26/12/2025 02:04, Brian Reid wrote:
> I also host the Large Format Photography site. I don’t contribute to it 
> (the largest-format camera that I currently own and use is a Q2) but I 
> help operate it and own its server computer. It has a vast number of 
> huge pictures (most of them shot on 8x10 film). They often see 15,000 
> simultaneous connections from thirsty AI bots.
> 
> On 2025-12-25 16:39, Douglas Barry wrote:
>> Well Brian, it is Happy Chaosday today and, unfortunately for all of
>> us, probably for the remainder of our lives.
>> That downloading by multiple bots is what we, over here anyway, call a
>> pain in the hole, but not really surprising, as any comforting notion
>> of privacy these days vanishes faster than morning frost in the
>> Sahara. What new horrors await us in 2026?
>> Thanks for trying to defend our honour and our images against
>> overwhelming odds. Have a happy christmas and a prosperous new year -
>> and the same goes for all Luggers out there.
>>
>> Douglas
>> Blind busy, but sadly not in the photographic area at the moment.
>>
>>
>> On 25/12/2025 05:44, Brian Reid wrote:
>>> Every time I turn the gallery server on again, it immediately got 
>>> flooded with AI bots stealing images.
>>> So I have turned it off for the night. It is currently 21:45 
>>> California time, so it’s going to stay off until my morning. Maybe 
>>> the pirates will turn their attention elsewhere, and maybe they 
>>> won’t. The torrent that arrived most recently was mostly from Russia.
>>>
>>> On 2025-12-24 15:32, Brian Reid wrote:
>>>> There are hundreds of different IPs in use, so blocking them is futile.
>>>> I turned off the server. We shall see if it goes away. I suspect it
>>>> will be stubborn.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 2025-12-24 09:56, Christopher Crawford via LUG wrote:
>>>>> Why don’t you block the IP that the bot is coming from, and if not
>>>>> possible, shut the server down until it goes away, instead of letting
>>>>> it steal LUG members’ photos?
>>>>>
>>>>> Christopher Crawford
>>>>> Fort Wayne, Indiana
>>>>>
>>>>> My Portfolio
>>>>> https://chriscrawfordphoto.com
>>>>>
>>>>> Learn From Me
>>>>> https://crawfordphotoschool.com
>>>>>
>>>>> Watchmaker Chris
>>>>> https://watchmakerchris.com
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Dec 24, 2025, at 12:51 PM, Brian Reid 
>>>>>> <reid at mejac.carlsbad.ca.us> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Today again the gallery has a heavy load. Today there is an AI bot 
>>>>>> in Brazil that is downloading every image, but it is being nicer 
>>>>>> than was yesterday’s Chinese download, and is using only 20 
>>>>>> parallel streams.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information

-- 
Dr. Peter Dzwig