Bugs/suggestions/criticisms!

josh!

I'd like an API. iTunes users are accostomed to purchasing music through their iTunes software, and it would be *very* easy to mimic this behavior using Files Forever and apps like Amarok if you provided an API. Pretty please!!!

I just started trying this out, and whenever I add my item to the shopping cart, then try to checkout, it says my cart is empty.

Hi I'm new to this stuff....so how does this work? Does it cost our storage or it free? I would like to try it out too hehe

This sounds like it could be really cool, but I don't think it's working for me. I get a fancy-looking 404. After I log-in, there's still a 404.

Same here. I can't get anything other than 404 pages. I try the "I'm new" create-a-new-account checkbox, and still get 404...

first Files Forever album?

https://files.dreamhost.com/5311/e4e5.zip

Artist: CHRIS GARVER
Album : e4/e5 (2006)

e4e5.zip (82MB) contains 14 Mp3s (320kbps). Cover art included.

FOURTEEN shady tales of harmolodic & misanthropic folk-rock!
Songs about elected servants and employed servants. Songs about shock and awe, the beatniks, & holy Moses. Songs about Paul Bunyan, Tammy Faye, & Zelda Fitzgerald. Posthumous songs, sacreligious songs, contradictory slanderings... Jewelry store robberies, the language virus, & the reawakening of the languished American dream?

'e4/e5' Tracklisting
========================
01 An Oath, an Oath, I have an Oath
02 No Ideas But in Things
03 Wasp in the House
04 Lost Fearsome
05 You Bring the Banker Honey
06 Heaven's Thirst & Death's Lapse
07 Put the Papers Away
08 Love Song Indeed
09 When Your Momma Leaves
10 Until the Concrete Splits
11 The Southfork Luncheon Blues
12 Blood, Ink & Print
13 Sweet Lord Play Me False
14 The Animals are Always on Your Side

Good luck selling your music on a site that no one can log into and that empties your cart upon checkout!

I'd love to try this out, but issues abound..

================================
I have a promo code setup, email me if you like.

what I want to know, is what files are we allowed to upload and sell on files.dreamhost.com ?

anything? you mean, the Madonna and Pink Floyd songs I downloaded from Kazaa ?

This is a very very sweet idea.

But... let's say we upload important files there. What assurances do we have that if DreamHost goes under, we'll get some notice before our files disappear?

None, I'm assuming?

Just curious.

Second, I think the idea is outstanding. I'm pretty stoked by it.

Third, too late to use it now, but I'm hoping all this 404 error message crap ain't real. I'll try it soon.

Fourth, if this works this will add ENORMOUS stickiness to my web hosting with DreamHost.

Fifth, how will you protect copyright holders from people uploading their legally owned content?

Thanks,

Christoph

Hey! Thanks for the feedback so far!

We've fixed the problem with the 404 errors, and the creation of a new user when checking out!

We weren't able to reproduce the error with the empty check out though.. could somebody help and see if that problem is still happening for them, and if so, maybe post exactly what URL they were adding to their cart, and what browser/os they use?

Thanks everybody!

josh!

You cannot make any files you don't own the distribution rights to publicly available through Files Forever. Just as it is with our hosting, we will of course comply with any DMCA take-down notices we receive related to FF.

josh!

Still happening, Josh.

I went to:

https://files.dreamhost.com/5311/e4e5.zip

and my shopping cart was empty when I attempted to purchase the featured $5 file at:

https://files.dreamhost.com/5311/e4e5.zip?com=addcart

I'm using FireFox 1.5.0.4 with JavaScript enabled. Same exact thing happened in IE 6.0.2900 with medium recommended security settings. All of this on Win XP SP5.

DreamHost going under? That's a laugh! :)

Okay, good point. But we wouldn't call it Files FOREVER if we didn't mean it. Should the integrity of ability to provide the service EVER come into doubt, we would of course provide ample notice to all file owners. I really doubt this will ever be the case though, as the actual resources required to provide this service pale in comparison to the rest of our web hosting.

Of course, who knows what the future brings. But right now I can say, your files are safe for a long long long long time, and hopefully "forever".

josh!

"Okay, good point. But we wouldn't call it Files FOREVER if we didn't mean it. Should the integrity of ability to provide the service EVER come into doubt, we would of course provide ample notice to all file owners."

"You cannot make any files you don't own the distribution rights to publicly available through Files Forever."

Thank you for these answers.

Ouch... I just figured out the part about 1MB files.

I still think it's a nice service for what it's primarily designed for... selling A/V files.

But I misread the:

"You can also keep the files you upload private.. so Files Forever also doubles as a very cost-effective permanent online archive solution, as well as an easy way to email big files to your friends."

... part to mean that I could archive, i.e., backup stuff.

But if I have to limit it to 1MB files and higher, that ain't gonna work!

Ok, I got one question answered on the blog, and I had one more. I understand I can back up anything I want so long as I don't make it public, but I just want to make sure I'm not going to get in trouble if I'm out on the road (I travel a lot on business, even overseas), and I decide I'm really in the mood to listen to my Zamfir - Master of the Pan Flute collection, I'm not going to get in trouble for downloading it from a totally different IP address than you are used to seeing.

I know I'm getting nit picky, but I am really, REALLY excited about this service, and I just want to make sure I have the rules clear before I go uploading my 100gb of MP3s to just find out a week later I accidentally violated a rule and all that work gets booted.

You can always zip up a bunch of stuff you want to archive to get a file bigger than 1MB. We may lower that limit too, later.

As for the cart being empty thing, I still can't reproduce it!

Could you help me?

I assume you're going to this URL, correct:

https://files.dreamhost.com/5311/e4e5.zip?com=addcart

Then, getting the message saying "added to cart".. clicking that and going to:

https://files.dreamhost.com/5311/e4e5.zip?com=viewcart

and then it immediately shows you having no files in your cart?

Could you maybe look at your cookies and find one in the "dreamhost.com" called "ndn_session_id_v3" and let me know the contents of it? It should look like:

ZFcwmg25zqrwQ4BY7y0BbkJpWYj5Qnr1ElbjBCY_019700287

Also, if you could, please let me know if you have any other cookies from dreamhost.com in your browser..

thanks!

josh!

Yep, that's fine!

We do log ips that download files of course to prevent account sharing, but when that happens it's generally really obvious (like dozens of different ips in an hour). Any use by one person will always be fine, even if it's from different ips frequently!

josh!

Ok, I would say I'm in the clear then. The most that might happen at any one time would be 2 IPs at the same time(don't laugh, I've been known to do odd things with gotomypc.com while sitting in a Tokyo hotel room! *laugh), but it sounds highly unlikely I would set off the alarms.

Thanks for the answers!