It’s been over a month since Twitter came after Twitpic over the service trademark, threatening to remove the service’s access to Twitter’s API. Today, CEO Noah Everett has announced that they have reached an agreement with Twitter that will let them stay alive – but a mare survival.
And in a somewhat happy turn of events, Twitpic has announced that it has reached an agreement with Twitter to keep Twitpic photos and links alive, giving Twitter control over the domain and the full photo archive.
However, the agreement also states that Twitpic will no longer be taking any new photos or data and will exist in a read-only mode. Apps on the App Store and Google Play have been removed, but users will still be able to log in, delete content or the account itself, and export and/or download data.
This comes after a “roller coaster ride” of the past few months. In September, Twitpic founder and CEO Noah Everett announced that the service would shut down after Twitter came after the service over the Twitpic trademark, threatening to remove the service’s access to Twitter’s API.
“This came as a shock to us since Twitpic has been around since early 2008, and our trademark application has been in the USPTO since 2009,” Everett wrote in a blog post.
Shortly thereafter, rumors circulated that Twitpic might be bought in order to save the service and the data that lives on it, until Everett once again admitted defeat and announced that he had given up on finding acquirers.
It’s with a heavy heart that I announce again that Twitpic will be shutting down on October 25th. We worked through a handful of potential acquirers and exhausted all potential options. We were almost certain we had found a new home for Twitpic (hence our previous tweet), but agreeable terms could not be met.
According to the blog post from today, which you can read below, it seems Everett won’t be staying on at Twitter or Twitpic.
Today marks the end of a difficult battle for Twitpic, whether it’s a happy or sad ending.
First off I want to say thank you to everyone who has used Twitpic over the years and for your patience with us over the last couple of months. As you know it’s been quite the roller coaster ride.
We weren’t able to find a way to keep Twitpic independent. However, I’m happy to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to give them the Twitpic domain and photo archive, thus keeping the photos and links alive for the time being. Twitter shares our goal of protecting our users and this data. Also, since Twitpic’s user base consists of Twitter users, it makes sense to keep this data with Twitter.
What this means for Twitpic users:
- Twitpic will no longer be taking on new photos or data (the site will be in a read-only mode)
- The iOS and Android apps have been removed from the app stores and will no longer be supported
- You will still be able to login to your profile to delete content or delete your account on Twitpic.com
- You can still export and download your data / photo archive on Twitpic.com
This will be my (@noaheverett) final chapter with Twitpic, and again I want to say thank you for allowing me to be a part of your photo sharing memories for nearly seven years. It has been an honor.