Flickr's users are determined to prevent the Yahoo portal from taking them over. Flickr, the most popular site for displaying, sharing and storing photos, currently has almost 200 million members with 37 million photos.

Flickr was purchased by Yahoo in March for an unspecified sum. The scandal between Yahoo and Flickr community's members has started when they were notified that by 2006 they will have to become Yahoo members, otherwise they won't be able to access their Flickr accounts.

The leader of the rebellious group is Thomas Müller, a German artist, who has more than 1,400 images on Flickr. Thomas Müller has started the Flick Off protest group, which was joined by 400 members.

They are threatening to leave the site if they are forced to make Yahoo accounts. Stewart Butterfield, one of Flickr's co-founders, is trying to calm them by saying that the Yahoo ID will not be forced on them.

Yahoo's spokesperson, Joanna Stevens, stresses that the integration with Yahoo will be good for the users and that the portal will be able to integrate other services with Flickr. Additionally, Yahoo will be able to integrate more easily advertising on behalf of those who place ads on Yahoo.