PREFACE: This page touches on issues
regarding direct-linking, bandwidth theft, copyright, credit-where-due,
respect (and rights) of ownership, common courtesy, Internet etiquette
["Netiquette"] and emerging Internet law protecting intellectual property.
It is not intended to be authoritative, but reflective; not accusatory
towards those who don't yet know how this stuff works, but
thought-provoking. Our hope is that this will spike readers' interest to
research for themselves the topics presented.
A SCENARIO:
Your car needs gas. There's enough in the tank to get you to a gas
station; but, you decide, instead, to go next door and siphon what you
want from your neighbor's car. Your neighbor won't see ... he'll never know,
right?
Duh ...
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?
Direct-linking, (aka
remote-linking, hot-linking) and its resulting Bandwidth Theft operate the
same as the above scenario. Let's suppose you see something you like on
someone else's site, like a neat image file (or other types of media
including music and zip files). You then add it to your webpage or use in
a forum or guestbook by linking to the site's domain you found it
on.
So ... WHAT'S WRONG WITH
THAT?
The image file is loading on YOUR page, forum or
guestbook entry; however, the person's remote site hosting the
file, (the site you found it on and are now direct-linking to) is having
its own bandwidth stolen by serving up the file to someone else's site,
all because of your direct-linking. (Think of
bandwidth as the gas used to power a car, as the scenario above, only in
this case, its powering a file server. Everytime a file is called-on to
load, including those you've direct-linked to, the server storing those
files is using "gas" to load them.) Now that's fine for the person
who owns the site paying for the gas. They can load anything they want on
THEIR pages. After all, they're paying the bill, right? But, they should
NOT have to pay for gas you siphon from them when you call on THEIR server
to load a file to YOUR page. And people wonder why this is frowned upon?
This is not a victimless lack of ethics. Your actions are costing THEM
bucks, not you. It's very appropriately called "bandwidth theft", don't
you agree?
Theft of bandwidth is a real slap-in-the-face to those
freely sharing their artistic wares with us, along with the monetary loss
dumped on them. Without question, bandwidth theft has closed down many
promising sites.
Still sound harmless? The consequences are not.
We may feel "anonymous" on the web, but server logs employed by many sites
record much info about our activities, links and connection the moment
we land on their sites and/or direct-linking is detected by their
servers. Site owners can opt to report bandwidth theft to our ISP
(Internet Service Provider), blog or forum hosts. They don't condone these
practices, and their Terms of Service reflect their disdain for it.
Websites and/or Internet connections can be yanked out from under us in a
heartbeat. It is suggested that you look up the TOS of your ISP, web
and/or forum hosts; that you become aware of the penalties involved.
Ummm ... HOW DO I LINK
CORRECTLY?Files must be linked to YOUR site's bin, and the
file must be uploaded there. ("Bin" or web server, is where your files are
stored online by your webhost.) To get a file to your bin, you first save
it to your computer by doing the "Right-click, Save-As" thingee. The file
is now on your computer, wherever you saved it. Now upload the file to
your site's bin and link to it from your page; that is, to the file
located in YOUR bin. Do not link to the file stored on the site you got it
from. Depending on what directory (folder) you saved the file to, you will
reference its location in the link you place on your page.
NOTE Reality: Some direct-link and steal bandwidth knowing it's
unethical, fully understanding how the whole process works and choosing to
continue in their theft. But, for those who truly didn't realize what they
were doing, we hope this has helped you become aware. We all had to learn
at some point.
NOTE: If you
don't have a website, (or your free webhost doesn't allow direct-linking,
such as Angelfire and others), but you want to leave sig files and other
gfx in forums, guestbooks, etc, find a separate host that allows image
storage and direct-linking. Open your own account w/them. Upload files to
that host and link to that host site instead of to someone else's personal
site. One server to try is: photobucket.com At the time of this
writing, it remains a free service and allows direct-linking. Another to
try is: www.81x.com
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WEB COPYRIGHT
ISSUES:
If we publish files on the Web (graphic,
music, html, etc) we did not create (direct-linked or not), not in
public domain, and without the creator's permission, we may find
ourselves facing charges of copyright infringement, which involves
fines and/or jail time. Infringement: files, intellectual property,
including graphics, composed by someone other than the one
publishing it (illegally) on their site. Internet law is constantly
changing. Ignorance is no defense and buys no excuses.
Internet Law |
Rights for Artists
| What is
Copyright?
The
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Protection
of Literary & Artistic Works (Berne/International)
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WHAT IF THE FILE
CREATOR SAID I COULD USE THE FILE?
Great! Now you'll want
to present the file on your page without direct-linking, by always giving
credit to the creator, if required, and never claiming their creation as
your own work. All this seems tedious, I know. Lets look deeper:
Thousands of graphic and music files are offered by designers and
musicians on the Web for us to use on our webpages. Many of us cannot make
our own and depend on those we find on the Web to brighten our pages with
colorful backgrounds, buttons, banners, headers, dividers, animations,
music, etc, made by those more graphically/musically-inclined. The vast
majority of these artists don't want a dime for their work, but may
require a link-back so that those visiting your pages can find their sites
and talents, just as you did. Others don't require a link-back and state
so on their sites. They just enjoy creating and making them available to
us. It's strictly a personal call on the part of the one originating the
files.
However, if neither statement is made on a site, (whether
they do or do not require a credit-link back, or whether anything at
all is available for your use), it is NOT to be assumed you are
automatically entitled to snatch their content, whether the page is
displaying a ©copyright notice or not. Always contact the site owner and
request his/her terms for using anything from their site. Keep a
hardcopy email paper-trail (with headers) of your correspondence with
those consenting to your using any of their page content.
'NET INTEGRITY - - NOT for
some
Okay, so a few don't respect or play well with
others. They may steal others' work, plagiarize entire pages, ignore
requests for giving credit to the creator, claim the work of others as
their own, direct-link and steal bandwidth; do a fast grab, bang, without
even a "thanky-ma'am." Common courtesy is not their strong suit, and
fair-play is not in their nature.
If a creative author/artist's
longevity on the Web depends solely on being acknowledged and their labor
respected ... well, they're probably already gone. After all, there is
only ONE way to insure your work is safe: Don't put it online. True, but
not nearly as much fun.
Thankfully, most creative webkeepers
hang in there and continue to contribute to the Web because they enjoy
dabbling in their own creativity and the outreach of sharing their
talents, knowledge and experience. They don't let the few ruin it for the
many.
That's so very cool.
ON THEIR BEHALF:
Give credit where due, if
stipulated in their Terms of Use
Provide a link-back, if stipulated
in their Terms of Use
If you did not create it, don't claim it as
your own
Never grab from a site w/o asking their terms
Never use
their creation without permission
Never direct-link to their site
And to ALL whose Web ethics are so very cool, too,
~ YOU ARE APPRECIATED! ~
Other Sources:
Author: Diane H. Bethel
Secretary, Board of Directors
Pawprints and Purrs, Inc.
Your donation will help pay for our feral cat colony and foster cats' and dogs' food, upkeep, and medical care. 100% of all donations go to the animals; we're all volunteers - there're no salaries or administrative fees. Thank you for your support!
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