Bandwidth leach attempt warning
Attempted from: http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=75&t=186390
Attempted at: 5/18/2003 6:27:32 AM (server local time)
Attempted File: PM120.jpg

Quoted:
Recently, Ive had some pretty huge bills due to increased activity on my site and in an effort to ensure Im doing everything I can to keep costs down I started looking at bandwidth issues... what I found was a whole lot of bandwidth theft.

[red]Leaching is when you put a picture into a place like this website so it shows the picture to all the visitors... what many dont know is that each time that image is accessed it pulls from my site and I get charged for the bandwidth.[/red]

While Im more than happy that people enjoy Pvt Murphy I am asking that you get permission to either copy the cartoon you wish to display and put it on your own server or simply put a link that once clicked will take the user to that page on my site (so I have a chance to advertise to them or get the opportunity to have another site user which is how the site continues).

I've submitted this information to one of the admins here but I have not gotten any response and that link continues to have a leached image on it (its in a restricted area of this board).

This IS NOT a flame so please take it as the explanation that I intend it to be since I've noticed that many people simply dont understand what leaching images costs.. Ive been doing a similar education campaign on my own site to let the members know that doing it with ANY image from OTHER sites is theft of a sort and should be avoided... the simple answer is a hyperlink... the user can choose to go to the site and the site owner gets the visit they are looking for.

.

Quoted:


It is MOST defiantly not THEFT!! If you don't want to incur the cost you are free to prevent the picture linking. To come here and accuse the members of theft is ridiculous. I believe you owe us an apology.[pissed]

Quoted:


McUZI called it  theft and he's a member of MENSA, so he's got to be right.

Maybe a quick perusal through this page:[url]http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4210/bandwidth.html[/url] will enlighten ya.

Quoted:
It is MOST defiantly not THEFT!! If you don't want to incur the cost you are free to prevent the picture linking. To come here and accuse the members of theft is ridiculous. I believe you owe us an apology.[pissed]

[b]What is Stealing Bandwidth?[/b]

There are many forms of bandwidth stealing on the web today. However, the bandwidth theft focused 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:

are too cheap to have server space of your own to use -and/or-
are too lazy to upload the image to your own server -and/or-
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. We understand 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.

Used in an effort to promote awareness of bandwidth theft... for the original text, please visit www.phenomenalwomen.com/donteventhinkaboutit/

Quoted:
Welcome!

I certainly understand your concerns...who wouldn't, when it hits them in the wallet?

But,  remember, this IS the internet, and it's pretty much the last frontier of freedom.  People often will do things you don't like, like leach bandwidth.   I don't condone it, but I've probably done it myself. (just not to you.)

Eventually, as bandwidth and memory both get cheaper and cheaper,  there will come a day when ISP's charge flat rates and there is no bandwidth limit on accounts as it'll be cheap and plentiful.  

But we're not there yet.  Heck, most users are still suffering in the dark ages torture chamber known as the dial-up modem connection!

I'll be more considerate of remote linking in the future.  I hadn't really thought about it much before.    Instead, I'll do what we all do anyway:  If we really like the image, we'll gank it, put a local copy of it into our picture host, and THEN link to the picture host!    But then there may be a copyright issue...I suggest in this case that the image include permission to distribute but only in its intact and unedited form, with copyright info intact and NO added watermarks allowed.


CJ

Quoted:
Rigger82,

You really need to talk to your ISP and have them set a hard limit on the amount of bandwidth you can use.  change your service plan so you use only XXX Kbps or Mbps at any given time.  This way you will not end up getting huge unexpected bills at the end of each month.

Now if you ISP doesn't offer a flat rate service agreement, you need to find a new ISP fast.  You are getting ripped off.

Quoted:
Rigger82,

No, your hosting is not good.  You need to change to a plan that limits your throughput RATE not the total for the month.  If you were to get popular for some reason...TV spot or something, you would go bankrupt from the bill at the end of the month.  You need to tell your ISP that you want a RATE limit account, not a total bandwidth for the month.  If they say they can't or won't do it, you need to change ISP's immediately.  I know....I run an ISP.  Your ISP has the cards shuffled in their favor.

Quoted:
DigDug, you are confusing "webhoster" with "internet service provider".

Quoted:


Not talking about my connection to the internet... rather the Web Hosting. I've never seen a host that throttles like you're suggesting and Ive been hosting websites since 1995

Quoted:


Kar98,

I run both, so no I am not confusing anything.  The webhoster may or may not be an ISP but has to have one to connect to the internet.  The ISP should be able to limit bandwidth to the web site, if the webhoster can't.  Understand?

Quoted:

You're absolutely correct and until very recently I didnt protect anything... was happy people enjoyed the stuff I had on the site and only hoped that they'd tell others about the site (I considered it advertising for the most part).

But at some point when the bad outweighs the good, you have to make a decision and after doing some extreme surfing for information about the subject, I found that quite a few sites suffer from this. Most newer or not so traffic'd sites take offense but havent gotten to the levels where it threatens them.

I say threatens because if it doesnt tail off... and Im forced to pay more... I might have to do something drastic like limit whats on the site (lowers the worth to my users) or worse, stop being able to offer it.

I know... seems like a whole lot of talk over what is one Pvt Murphy here at ar15.com but each time it gets hit I get a note and I know that even in that protected area, its getting traffic.

Imagine the links happening to many of the icons and avatars that I have made available for use on MY site that are being used on other forums (i havent gotten to those yet).

Trust me... it adds up quick.