Web Legalities: Bandwidth Stealing
Information (files) loaded to or from servers is called
bandwidth. Every time you upload a file to your ISP, surf the
web or download a video, you are using bandwidth.
Bandwidth is limited. Why? Because it actually is a bunch of
wires or fibers connecting servers to the global network. And
wires can only carry so much data. When someone attempts to get
more data than can be handled by the wire, the transmission of
the data is slowed down.
Some ISPs limit the amount of data that a site can use during a
particular time period. As an example, an ISP might limit you to
1gb of data per month for your flat fee, then charge you an
extra $10 for each additional gigabyte. Some of the more
obnoxious ISPs actually just block transmissions when the
bandwidth is exceeded (effectively putting that site out of
business for a time).
It's common practice to load most of the images, sound files,
videos and documents in your web on your own site. This
excludes, of course, advertising banners which are rotated and
some specific documents and images which are supposed to be
loaded from a central location.
It's common among amateurs and beginners to link to images and
other files directly to some other server instead of putting
them on their local server. Sometimes they just don't know
better, sometimes they are just lazy, and sometimes they've just
run out of space at their free host.
So not only do they "steal" the image (it is probably
copyrighted and they are copying it without permission each time
the web site is loaded) they "steal" the bandwidth!!
This is extraordinarily bad form, it's tasteless and it should
be avoided like the plague.
In some extreme cases, unscrupulous "webmasters" (I use the term
loosely) link to large zip files on other servers to give their
own visitors extra features. This often occurs with sites
containing downloadable software, wallpaper and desktop themes.
DO NOT do this without permission! If you do, you are a thief
and you are costing someone else money and aggravation.
What do you do if someone links to your images or files without
your permission and he will not stop? Replace the file with
something else. A picture or document stating that this person
is stealing bandwidth should suffice. If you can get the email
address or phone number of the person, you might include it for
additional impact.