"I got modded!" - a warning to all

[Dilbert]

I am a member (non-moderator) of a forum called www.civfanatics.com. (Say what you will...) There's an off-topic thread where we post funny pictures we find on the Internet. Well, about a year ago, I hotlinked some pictures, meaning I used the website's direct link for the image to be displayed.

Well, I got a PM today, saying that I was given 3 points of infractions for posting pornographic material on the forums. It turns out, the website changed what image was at that particular URL, and it wasn't pretty. 3 points is good enough for a ban from the forums. Not good. I replied to the PM and got it corrected.

Many websites don't allow using their URLs for images, and some change the image if it's "hotlinked" this way. Some of these images are vulgar. To avoid this problem, upload any images you want to share to a place like ImageShack or Photobucket. They don't do this; they are dedicated image hosting sites. Don't use the website's URL.

[reaper_tbs]

woah o.O
that's a good warning man, thanks for that

[CBMatt]

Ha, I've had similar things happen to me.  I hotlinked a couple of Cowboy Bebop pictures a few years ago and they were replaced with images calling me a bandwidth theif.  The owner of the site even went to the message board to chew me out.

[reaper_tbs]

go the bebop!
i bet they were dirty pictures of fey or whatever her name is weren't they? they were doing the public a service by changing them
i kid.

[Zylstra]

I remember when someone was copying my Avatar, lucky me, I have it on my own server, so I went ahead and changed it to a bloody looking Garfield...

Its usually just best to put a link to the image, and not use the img tags, that way, you arent wasting bandwidth of the other server when someone accesses the page, and dialup users arent going to hunt you down with pitchforks and torches (we know they want to, though)

[honvetops]

Awesome post~  thanks for the education

[Dilbert]

I have reworded the original post and made it into an FAQ:
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,40690.new.html#new

[honvetops]

Awesome FAQ:   I even kinda understood it! 

[soybean]

I know I'm going off on a tangent, but anyone developing web pages should also adhere to this.  In other words, if you see a nice image on another website, don't link to it.  You really have no right to do so unless you ask for permission to do so and they grant permission or they openly state that it's OK to link to their images. 

Actually, it's possible to encounter legal issues due to copyright infringement by using someone else's image(s) without permission.  So, use discretion.

[Cyborger]

I only use images that have been seen countless times so no one can claim I got it from their site. And I already knew to use ImageShack or Photobucket, it's common sense.

[Dilbert]

I do/did too, but I was probably in a hurry back then. Also, it doesn't matter who else has said picture - if the site's hosting it, they can probably use the no-hotlinking code.