Hotlinking?

[drizzt81]

(14) Do not post MATERIAL where you do not have permission to distribute it electronically or otherwise. This includes posting images directly from a website (Bandwidth Theft) Images are to be hosted personally or by a third party host.

is this still a rule? Should I report such posts? It seems rather common in the VC subforum or whenever people are arguing about performance to just hotlink Tom's or Firingsquad's comparison charts...

 

[DeadlyAura]

Well, I don't think site hotlinks are bad, I think that if you link directly to a picture it is bad.

I think the rule is that if you are going to post a picture link, rehost the pic using a 3rd party site so that you aren't jacking the sites bandwidth. But I think if you are giving a link to the site it is ok.

I'm not the authority on this, but it is what I have seen and experinced.

 

[CommanderFrank]

You must either host the images yourself or use a third party hosting service. Direct linking to an image is bandwidth theft, which is not allowed here. See FAQ #4

 

[drizzt81]

that leaves me the question "should I report such activity"? If so, should I use the "report post button"?

ps.: I was referring to images, from what I gather from the rules, I can link to the article, so that others may read it...

 

[Crosshairs]

that leaves me the question "should I report such activity"? If so, should I use the "report post button"?

Yes and yes....

 

[CommanderFrank]

Correct...and you can link to text articles since that sends you to the site, not directly to the image. The point here is to visit the site, not just steal their images using their bandwidth to accomplish the theft.

Yes and yes....