Bandwidth
theft. Hotlinking or direct linking is when you link to images
on a server/website other than your own. When you hotlink, you
steal bandwidth from someone else's site. Website owners PAY for
space and bandwidth, so when you hotlink, you are stealing from
the website owner. Website owners are charged extra fees if they
go over the amount of bandwidth that is given to them and that's
why site owners detest hotlinking/ direct linking -- you're causing
them to pay a fine because you're stealing bandwidth that they
are PAYING for and is only supposed to be for their own use.
To
avoid hotlinking or direct linking, save the image to your own
computer and upload the image to YOUR OWN server or webspace.
A good place to store images if you don't have your own webspace
is photobucket: (http://photobucket.com)
