"Not authorised to view, download, or link"

I wonder if it has anything to do with the new security measures built into Mountain Lion?
I remember reading about the new security protocols, but since I haven't gotten Mountain Lion yet, they went in one eye and out the other
Of course, it could have absolutely nothing to do with the OS.

When your browser contacts a server to ask for a webpage, it sends along several pieces of information that you never actually see. One of these is the "HTTP-Referer"[1], which tells the server what page you were viewing at the time the browser sent the request for the new page. Some sites examine it as a primitive hotlinking prevention measure (referer on a different server = OMG someone's stealing our pictures, and thus our bandwidth!). It's a bad idea, because the browser doesn't have to offer the server this information at all.

That being said, there's no indication that Firefox has suddenly stopped delivering referer information by default (can't see anything obviously relevant in the changelog). I know they're supposed to be changing their policy with respect to third-party cookies, which could also be the cause of your problems, but I can't remember whether that was supposed to hit with v. 20 or not.

[1] Yes, "referer" and not "referrer"—the guy who wrote the original standard screwed up the spelling.

BenPanced said:

The site owner explained something about referrers but I have no clue what he's talking about. It's now happening on another site and I don't know what's up.

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Check your cookie settings--do you have 3rd party cookies allowed?

I'd try the annoying but often effective thing of logging off, deleting cookies (assuming you know your logins), emptying your browser cache and history, Quitting the browser entirely, and logging back in, telling the site and browser to remember you.

Ben when you hover your cursor over the image link, is the image on that server or is it hotlinked from another server?

BenPanced said:

On that server.

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You've got me. I'mma gonna ask around.