Download 'Protected' Images

Often friends ask me on how to deter people from copying or downloading stuff that they put up on the internet. My suggestion is simple – it is not worth the effort. Because anything that is displayed on the screen and emitted by the speakers can always be copied by the end users, with only a little extra effort.

While returning from home a few days ago, I ran into a school friend – now a risk manager and a budding photographer – who has put up a website via which he intends to sell his photos. “And no one can steal the photos from my site,” he boasted. I tried to explain him that it is indeed very easy to circumvent the JavaScript had he had put in there. He didn’t seem too convinced. I didn’t have a laptop with me to give him a demo, and therefore this post.

The easiest way, when right click is disabled on a page, is to left click on the image and keep the mouse button pressed while draging and dropping it on to the desktop or to any folder shortcut on the taskbar [Source]

Another simple trick is to temporarily disable javascript on the browser, as most of this disabling is done via JavaScript, and then you can copy the images the usual way – right click > Save Image As.

To do so in Firefox, click on Tools (on the File menu) » Options » select the Content tab » deselect the Enable JavaScript checkbox » click OK.

To disable JavaScript in Internet Explorer (IE) go to Tools » Internet Options > click on the Security tab » click on the Custom Level button in the Security level for this zone section » scroll down and look for Scripting and click on the Disable radio button under Active scripting » click OK.

Just remember to revert back to your original javascript settings once you are through with your coping else you might not be able to experience the javascript powered features on some websites.