>it's a pretty dreadful world where you're to completely understand the business model behind every service you rely on to some extent, or else it's really your own fault when they pull the rug from under you with like five minutes of very non-specific notice.

I'm baffled that people seem to feel this is an unreasonable expectation for anyone trying to make money from such a service, especially as a free user. It's not a public utility.

>Society just couldn't operate if everybody actually read the entirety of the terms of all the services they use. We'd get nothing done.

This isn't society, though, this is business. This is why companies hire lawyers and pay for contracts with their suppliers, etc.

Yes, the way Photobucket went about this is crass, clueless and rude, but users who just expected the service to "work" indefinitely are also at fault for doing so.