sorry to use this platform for a personal matter but I have a big problem and some of you can help...or at least I hope you can help:

yesterday my website http://www.sleight-of-sound.de caused 4.4 terrabytes of traffic from one file. A bootleg of a PJ lollapalooza-show from 1992 in Miami. The file was downloaded nearly 10000times and now I have to pay over 9000 € for extra-traffic. But the downloaders didn´t visit my website they just clicked on a link somewhere on the http://www....Someone must have put a direct-link of this file on his website or bbs or mailinglist etc. Can you help me to find this bbs/website/mailinglist ?
It must be somewhere in South America since 80 % of the downloaders were from Chile. If you know the website wehre this link (http://www.sleight-of-sound.de/video/Miami_1992.mpeg) was published please inform me.

btw: Now the Link won´t work since my website was shut down

Thanks

Justin

You should be able to find out what URL they came from in your server logs. One of the many fields in the server log is the "REFERER" (sic) and for every request, the link where the user came from is recorded.

for what it's worth, i would go back to your host and ask them why they a) did not alert you of the problem sooner, and b) do not have a maximum bandwidth limit so that you don't have to pay 9000euros

No thats the problem I would see referers if they would "jump" on my website but they just clicked on direct link with the file so there are no referers

This is what my logs say:

10360 Hits 88.97% - (Direct Request)

9923 85.22% 4562740928 99.52% /video/Miami_1992.mpeg

Then in that case it's a BOT and not someone clicking on a link. If someone clicks on a link, you will always have a referer.

looks like someone wrote a program to hit your site.

You should at least have an IP in the server log. You could pursue that path.

oh thanks

9845 hits from this IP

82-29-246-201.adsl.terra.cl

how can that help me ?

You can report that URL to your ISP as a Denial-of-Service (DOS) attack which you may or may not be accountable for in your hosting agreement.

that sucks. Good luck. I wish I had something useful to offer

So sorry this happened to you. I had this happen to me a few years ago too on a White Stripes site I had. But mine was only like $450. I hope you can get it resolved in a way that's good for you.

if you post this in the tech forum you may get better answers

I guess that is my one contribution

I linked this thread in tech support.

There's not much you can do besides contacting your hosting provider and handing them those logs. Terra.cl looks like a telephone/internet probider. I doubt if they can be of any use in this matter.

As for the comment about it being a bot: If I copy a URL and paste it into either a browser or a download manager, there won't be a referrer, so it's not necessarily a bot.


Sorry I can't be of any more use. Good luck!

that really sucks dude, i hope you find the site youre looking for.

Do you have access to the server itself? If so, all of the access and transfer information should be in the logs somewhere. Also, if you have full control over the server's operation, you should be able to cap the number of connections or server processes to prevent DoS attacks.