Bandwidth Theft


To prevent bandwidth theft, you MUST save photos and graphics correctly.  If you want an image from this site, do not copy the graphic and paste it into any web page, forum, etc.  You MUST right click and select "save picture as".  This puts the item into a file on your own computer and disconnects it from my server.  From the file on your computer, you can upload it to your web page, message board, or personal albums online. 

Easy Instructions

If you want to have one of the pictures, download/save the graphic to your computer and upload to your server, as you did for your HTML (website) pages. Right click (PC) or Click + Hold (Mac) on the image you want, and choose "save graphic as ..." to a file folder on your computer.  In Windows, it can go into your 'My Documents' directory.  Then send it to your server.  WebTV users, use the Transloader!
(Note: different systems will use different words, your menu choice might be: "save graphic as ..." or "save image as ..." or "save background as ...", you need to know your system)

Then the picture has to be uploaded to the internet. It has to be on SOMEONE's web space. If you have your own website, then you should upload the image to your website -- the same website on which you are going to *display* the image. If you do not have your own website, and want to display an image in your profile on a forum somewhere or something, then you'll either have to A) get your own website -- one which allows remote linking, or B) find a friend with some webspace to host the image for you, or C) find some image hosting service that allows remote linking. There are services that allow you to upload photos (ImageStation, Yahoo!, etc.), but they usually don't allow remote linking. One service that does is called VillagePhotos.

If you just want to make a wallpaper or print it out or email it to a friend or just look at the picture, you don't have to upload it to the web. But if you want to SHOW it on the web, it has to BE on the web. Which is why you either have to direct link it from the site you saw it on (bad) or upload it to your *own* webspace (good).

If you do not use this method and direct link by using an image with my URL (my HTML code name for the image as it is on my site), it is illegal.  There are ways to track you down, and the name of images can be changed, so you would be left with nothing.  If your IP address or Internet provider finds out that you are direct linking... you will most likely be banned. So just don't do it!

Reading this can also help clarify the subject:  http://www.buffyguide.com/webmasters/directlink.shtml 

The artwork on this site is copyrighted.  If you do 'borrow' a picture, please give The Cat Gallery a mention and link (http://www.thecatgallery.com).  Thank you.

paw print Back to The Cat Gallery Menu
paw print Back to the Cat Picture Gallery





Bandwidth theft is a big problem on the internet.  What is bandwidth?

Bandwidth is the measurement of useage of a website, measured in bytes, and is charged, usually monthly.  When you go to a website, and the page starts to load, that uses bandwidth. Every picture, graphic, midi file, streaming video, all use bandwidth.

If you find something you like at a web site, such as a picture, or a cartoon, or a piece of clip art, and you decide to "take it" and use it on your own web page, or post it in on a message board, and use the "copy and paste" method, you are stealing bandwidth. That item remains on the server where you found it, and even though you are pasting it to another web page, it is still using bandwidth from where you got it.  It's as if someone has tapped into their water line.  The water useage is still being measured on their water meter, but the water is being used by the neighbors.  That's theft.

Most people who steal bandwidth, do it completely unaware.  They don't realize the huge costs incurred by the owners of the web sites or the web hosts.  Many sites are shut down every month when they've exceeded bandwidth useage simply because of the theft from other sites.  Many free media sites have disappeared because of this problem.  Free media on the internet is definitely jeopardized by this practice. The cost can quickly exceed the limits of a budget and many sites have closed down as a result. 

Don't Even Think About It!

Stealing bandwidth is a crime
and will NOT be tolerated!

There are many "don't steal my bandwidth" pages on the web. They are often long winded and hard for the novice or even the experienced web designer to understand. "Don't Even Think About It" is short and to the point. You will know what stealing bandwidth is in the 3 short minutes it takes you to read this page that is written without any sugar-coating at all.

What is Stealing Bandwidth?

There are many forms of bandwidth stealing on the web today. However, the bandwidth theft PhenomenalWomen.com is focusing on here is image/graphic stealing, and is the bandwidth theft that occurs most. That is when you find an image you like and you are:

  1. are too cheap to have server space of your own to use -and/or-
  2. are too lazy to upload the image to your own server -and/or-
  3. are uneducated about the crime you are committing -or all of the above-

Crime? Yes, it is a crime. The person whose site the image is on that you are linking to for the source of the image is paying to display their image on your site. 

First of all, the image belongs to them, not you. What right do you have to say; "Oh, wouldn't this look great on my site?" and just copy the image URL and use it on your site. You have no right at all. It is not your graphic. Even if it is a very common graphic, for example a bullet or an arrow, and you have seen it on many sites. The operative word here is "on." Get it? It is on a site. That site owner is paying one way or another to have that graphic displayed on the web. Perhaps they pay a monthly fee. Perhaps, they use a 'free' web service, however, they have limits on the amount of bandwidth they are allowed to use. By linking to the graphic, YOU have STOLEN from them one way or another.

Secondly, if it is an original graphic that the site owner designed them self, and you link to the source of the graphic to be displayed on your site, you are not only stealing the bandwidth, you are now plagiarizing their work too.

It seems a big culprit these days are the "community" type websites (MSN Groups are a fine examples). A person can easily set up a little web site lickety-split - and it's even faster when you link to the source of the graphics you have seen on the web & like rather than uploading them in YOUR space. Not to mention writing to the owner of the graphic and asking their permission first. People do this because it is a fast and cheap way to put something up quickly. In doing this, you are stealing!

One other area that is festering boil for bandwidth stealing are the Bulletin Boards that offer the members an ability to have a cutesy little icon next to their name. People remember that cute little picture of a dancing potato they saw on a web site and link to the image source for their member icon. Now, the site owner who's dancing potato graphic you are linking to is looking through their server logs and see 15,048 hits to this one little graphic. "What the heck," they say in disbelief! Or, they get a notice from their 'free' web site host telling them that they have exceeded their allowable bandwidth for the month and their site will be shut off OR they have to pay extra money to keep it up.

Bottom line, if you want to use a graphic on your site, you must do these things: write to the site owner of the graphic that you would like to use on your site. •>ASK<•, repeat ASK them if you can use that graphic on your site. If they say yes, then thank them and be certain to thank them in the credits of your site. If they say no, swear a bit under your breath but under no circumstances do you link to the graphic thinking that "I'm not really using it on my site.. since it is not on my server. Leave it alone and go find something else instead. 

Does this text make you angry or are you grinning ear to ear? If you are feeling angry, you are one of those snatch and grab people who take what they want and say the heck with the rules. If you are smiling ear to ear, you are a site owner who is glad to see the text you have just read. It is in plain English and not sugar coated in any way. PhenomenalWomen.com understands this because so many images on this site are linked to and bandwidth stolen daily. 

A warning:, many site owners can track down and pinpoint exactly where their images are being used on other sites. When that happens, you will be in trouble. If you are new to the web, take the advice of this page as your first lesson and don't forget it.

PWOTW warning