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Heya,
I have a site thats leeching one of my games using an Iframe.
Has anyone had any success preventing this, I am under the impression that cross domain 'rules' prevent my javascript from busting out, I was wondering if any one had a solution to this rather vexing problem!
Many thanks!
hmm. Well, were talking about linking to an HTML page right? Or to your swf?
If an HTML page, I say you're lucky. At least you can place some ads on there and at least recoup something from the extra leech traffic. I don't see what you can do other than set up your server to reject the "referrer".
There are ways to prevent your page from being linked threw an inline frame, or even being right clickable to view your source code. I see this alot when I try to use them instead of opening full bowser windows from links on my site, so I know it's possible.
Look on google for java script codes I am sure they are there.
They are linking direct to my SWF, unfortunately framebuster javascript doesnt seem to work when its an inline frame on another domain.
hmm i dont know a way in java script or html.
You could always Like at the start of your game put your web site and all this about your site like an add that will get more people =)
*or you could always like change the swf file on that iframe page and put like all swearing on it or rude anoying stuff Then they will proberly take it off =) *
You should try it lol.
well, since there linking to the swf that's good...
that means anywhere you have your game website adress advertised it would not be effected by changing the swf address , since the html address would still be the same.
Basically all you have to do is create a new folder in your website directory, and throw the swf in it and then repost the website, the swf will still show up on the html page, but the adress to the swf has now changed.
If they update there site just toss it around in folders for a few weeks, they'll get tired of having to find it.
If they don't give up... since you have your swf embedded on an html page, it is not possible to open the swf alone unless you know it's adress, (eg, www.truimgaz.com/game/my.swf) so turn off the view source option of the page with script, and they will not be able to view source on the html page to see were the swf is being stored in the directory.
Thus they will not be able to figure out were it is on the web.
Also it's a good idea that if you are not activly trying to perform well on search engines you can add this
<META NAME="Robots" CONTENT="none">
This way if someone goes on a search engine such as yahoo, and types your main website adress (eg, www.truimagz.com) and then clicks the option that says "view more pages by this website" the page with that meta will not come up in the list, thus making it even harder to find that page without knowing it's exact adress.
There is very easy solution: rename swf. When they fix the link, rename it again. They give up eventually.
And there is more complex solution. Search for htaccess rewrite rules.
And if you really want to avoid being leached you could build several layers of protection with variables, php and such. Try to link to my game swfs:
http://www.tonypa.pri.ee/start.html
yea i want 2 know how to do that to so people dont steal my games with out my permition
i have no clue *password protect it *
Ah yes, but the beuty of that is the fact you have just commited a crime, linking to something that is publicly viewable is not.
Taking someone else's property is. Something about illegal distribution.
There is a very fine line there.
i have no clue
well you changed your post and now mine makes no sense =/
None of your posts make sence now
You could add an parameter to the swf in your php/html ..
flashvars="id=whatever"
and when this parameter is missing then do not play the game/move ect.
There's no way to prevent people from viewing an html source... as long as a browser can render the page, people can view the source as well (by downloading the page and viewing the source in a text editor).Quote:
so turn off the view source option of the page with script, and they will not be able to view source on the html page to see were the swf is being stored in the directory.
But if they link directly to the swf they can easily add this parameter as well:Quote:
Originally Posted by X-Tender
game.swf?id=whatever
(they do need to figure out that this parameter is needed for the game to work, so it might prevent some leechers though.)
One good solution that I can recommend if someone links directly to an swf is to rename the real file like suggested. Then place a simple .swf with the old file name which just contains a clickable link to the real address (maybe even make it open in a new window). This way you will get traffic from the leecher, and you've kind of indicated to the leeching site how it should have been handled in the first place. And since you've not created any broken link it might take them a long time to notice it, and visitors to their site are unlikely to report anything since they're still able to play the game.
Why not just do it on server level, and turn off hotlinking? Most hosting accounts have a setting for this, and you can send an alternative file. So I send this file : http://www.gamesquid.com/hotlinking.php (which is a dynamically generated swf, showing a message). That will scare them off :)
I do allow 'null referers' - some browsers just don't send a referer in the headers, and I still want them to be able to play my games. But that's a very small percentage.
To the person who claims you can use javascript to prevent people from viewing your html source: erm - no. There are a lot of ways to still get the source. Like tuning of javascript. Or looking through your cache. Or writing a custom browser...
Won't some simple javascript fix this?
Like if(top != self) ...
If not simply loadMovie into _level0 like illegal.swf.
gsb
Yes, but only if they link to the html, not if they link to the swf directly.Quote:
Originally Posted by gsb
Ok... so if the originator, Mark Fennell, used an HTML wrapper page for the swf, when loaded it sets a variable via javascript. So it the swf is accessed directly that fails and the swf knows it has been hijacked. Then it simply loadMovie into _level0 like illegal.swf. ...no?
gsb
Yes, but any HTML code with variables can be copied into leachers page too.Quote:
Originally Posted by gsb
Well, you could get the HTML page's url and if it is not your domain, quit, no?
Hey, I'm not a gamer. Just posted a question in another forum and while awaiting, saw this.
I do a lot with iFrames and framesets and this caught my eye.
But I love solving problems and this sounds solvable.
... well given that we first agree that a swf can be stolen.
But bandwidth. One should be able to stop that I would think.
gsb
sometimes it even bothers me on the other side that flash sometimes can be such a pain in t.. ..s when I want to watch a movie offline but the site used some pre- made flash solution that hides the actual data, sucks big time on sites such as creativeCow, gotoAndLearn,... (and no; firefox plugins wont always do the job).
In the past people used to grab swf files from within the cache of the browser to store them on their HD to rewatch them or share them with friends.
What if a great flash content someday vanishes from the orginating URL or the url is not anymore accessable imo. that´s the big disadvantage and not everybody considers that (reminds me of steam or $ms WGA).
There are still people who grab flash files to watch them offline (reasons can be slow or no internet connection, a slow computer that has the internet access,...).
So a suggestion from me would be to add an alternative *.exe download as a flash projector if it suits the project that features:
- no browser needed
- no flash player needed
- no internet connection needed
Well renderhjs, that is a good solution for those that want to distribute and/or redistribute their work.
But let's get back to OP's original post:
'though I am sure I do not fully understand the situation, I would think one could at least stop this swf from running under those conditions.Quote:
Heya,
I have a site thats leeching one of my games using an Iframe.
Has anyone had any success preventing this, I am under the impression that cross domain 'rules' prevent my javascript from busting out, I was wondering if any one had a solution to this rather vexing problem!
Many thanks!
__________________
Regards Mark Fennell - Flash Kit Founder, general loiterer
Perhaps OP is one of "those" that you may find annoying, but too, s/he may have their own thoughts on that subject.
BTW: I like the exe solution you propose to the opposite problem.
gsb
Its not that simple, the swf can only easily check the url of itself and not the html page used to embed it so if the swf is hosted on your server, but has been embedded into html page hosted on other server (that is basis of leaching) the url check inside swf thinks everything is ok. I have seen examples of javascript functions written inside swf which in theory should be able to read the url of top html page, but I have found those solutions unreliable.Quote:
Originally Posted by gsb
"I have seen examples of javascript functions written inside swf which in theory should be able to read the url of top html page, but I have found those solutions unreliable."
I disagree.
That can be very reliable as in this case to deter "bandwidth" stealing.
That's all I was saying.
gsb
Every step helps of course :)Quote:
Originally Posted by gsb
But when protecting the swf from leachers it should not prevent normal visitors play and enjoy your game. Under certain browser settings and Flash player the javascript embedded into swf did not work too well so I am not currently using it myself.
Well I appreciate the conversation and your points.
But it all looks like a mute point since the OP seems to have dropped out.
Thanks,
gsb
The best way I think (I have a friend looking into it) is to basically ip ban the site thats leeching. I Think this can be done on apache.
If you use Flash9/AS3 you can check the html page showing your swf like this:
import flash.external.*;
var urlStr = ExternalInterface.call("top.location.href.toString ");
Notice that it is not url of swf file, but the html page. Here are some examples:
Original page:
http://www.tonypa.pri.ee/test/urlcheck.html
Your page included as frame on some other page:
http://www.tonypa.pri.ee/test/frames.html
Your page included as iframe on some other page:
http://www.tonypa.pri.ee/test/iframe.html
This is a great way to protect from hot linking, but ExternalInterface might not be compatible with all plateforms, mostly linux, despite it is announced to be compatible with linux/firefox.
I've never tested it.
I think if ExternalInterface is unavailable, it returns "null" so in these cases you can allow game to play. However, if it returns html page and the address is not yours, you can prevent playing. So if someone hotlinks it from their page, their visitors using Linux/Firefox can play it there, in 99% cases you can easily redirect visitors to your own site.
Tony, this is ONLY Flash 9 / AS3 ???
And I don't think your method is working. I clicked your first link and only get a Black page.
http://www.tonypa.pri.ee/test/urlcheck.html
I think its AS3 only. What version of FP you use? I only tested it with latest FP9ver115.
Like Tonypa said, you can edit your site's .htaccess file to prevent leeching certain files. The code below should stop .swf and .dcr from being linked directly from other sites.
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://yoursite.com/.*$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.yoursite.com/.*$ [NC]
RewriteRule .*\.(swf|dcr)$ - [F]
What about having your .swf check for a variable? Maybe have it make a call to your server and retrieve a variable in order to run. That or even loadVars and do some server side php or asp in the page containing the .swf. I would think you could then prevent them from running the .swf because it would be exclusively dependent on the .asp or .php it's emdedded in.
TJ
I've never gotten the htaccess method to work. EVER.
anyways, Tony, I have player 9.0.28.0
Tony I also see a black screen with a link 'get flash" in your exemple (v 9.0.47.0 on win xp)
ExternalInterface was already there in AS2. This method should work for both AS2/AS3.
By the way there is a static var ExternalInterface.available that returns false if it is not working with the browser of the player. This way you can deactivate the protection an display the game.
I didn't tested the exact one described by Tony but I've already experimented comunication between swf and javascript in AS2 (and AS3 too, it works the same way). You can implement a system of connection between flash and javascript and you don't play the game if the connection fail (and if ExternalInterface.available is true of course).
I have never really needed something like this, but if I had to do something simple I would just make the flash file request a fixed url on my server.
This url would just return check the http referral and return "ok" for accepted sites and an url to navigate to for none accepted sites. Due to the way browsers work the referral should be the site the flash file is embedded on.
This way you should be able to control both what sites can embed your flash file, but also what sites may host your flash files.
While ExternalInterface was available for AS2 as far as I know you cannot directly call the method tonypa used. You would have to declare a function in your HTML which returns it for you which renders using the workaround in AS2 useless.
javascript
<script language="Javascript">
<!--
if (top.location != document.location)
top.location = document.location;
//-->
</script>