Tangerine Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) Another rule has been added to section 5 of the Code of Conduct for the sake of discouraging hotlinking. 6. No hotlinking under any circumstances. Users in the past have ended up posting inappropriate images because of this and I was surprised to see there was no rule against it. I decided to make this announcement in order to let users know of the change and to explain exactly what it is and what they're doing when they hotlink. An article on altlab explains it best. http://altlab.com/hotlinking.html Bandwidth theft or "hotlinking" is direct linking to a web site's files (images, video, etc.). An example would be using an <img> tag to display a JPEG image you found on someone else's web page so it will appear on your own site, eBay auction listing, weblog, forum message post, etc. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data transferred from a web site to a user's computer. When you view a web page, you are using that site's bandwidth to display the files. Since web hosts charge based on the amount of data transferred, bandwidth is an issue. If a site is over its monthly bandwidth, it's billed for the extra data or taken offline. A simple analogy for bandwidth theft: Imagine a random stranger plugging into your electrical outlets, using your electricity without your consent, and you paying for it. There are several websites you can use in order to avoid this issue. Upload whatever image you want to post through a free image hosting website, such as imageshack.us imgur.com tinypic.com Thanks for reading. Edited November 14, 2011 by Tangerine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Or gyazo.com. With that you can take immediate screenshots (you highlight the area you want a screenshot of) and it gets uploaded within seconds. Copy/paste the URL and there's your image. Much easier and faster than having to copy/save/upload things to an image hosting site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashGordon94 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) Clarification, what are the punishments for breaking this and what if it's a hotlinked picture from before the rule was made? Also, Photobucket is another good image hosting site. Edited November 14, 2011 by CrashGordon94 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 Verbal and then warn if you do it again. We're not going to retroactively punish people for it, that'd be silly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashGordon94 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Large or small ones? Not gonna break the rule, just curious (I think it's only worthy of a small warn myself but you mods know better). And that's good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inactive Account Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Is direct-linking from a site such as Tumblr or deviantArt covered by this? (Neither are image-hosting sites per se, but they are clearly designed to host content that gets a lot of hits.) Basically this is me testing the boundaries of how much of a lazy butt I can be when posting art (and also trying to dodge the image size limits that Photobucket and tinypic impose, because when they resize an image I upload it always turns out looking like shit.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balcerzak Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I would assume if it is your personal DA or Tumblr or what-have-you, that would be a no-brainer. Not sure about other peoples'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowjam Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) Good information, Tangerine... But seriously, directly posting a work of art, like an image, that belongs to someone else, without their consent? If anyone commits such an action, they could be also be punished under copyright law... ...and FYI, copyright law violations are a major crime almost everywhere. You could face an intelligence services investigation, go to jail for 5 years, fined a fortieth of a million dollars, and a mark on your criminal record, all for committing the violation, if you get caught doing so... ^Source of above facts ^ Since this is a fire emblem site, playing the games on the emulator won't get you in trouble from you guys, but if you try it, the gamer is responsible for making sure that doing so isn't against the law of the entire region of residence, but when it comes to other things that infringe on other people without their say-so, that should result in a 2 week ban, and if the cyber police catches the offender, the offender's ban should be upgraded to a permanent ban, just so we don't look biased against the cyber police... Edited November 14, 2011 by shadowjam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT075 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 As far as I know, nobody here is making any money off of their art. Ergo, even if there was an infringement, there's no damages, which means no investigation, which means no charges. The intellectual copyright laws are incredibly vague anyhow; with this community in particular there's nothing to be gained or lost just because you never gave direct permission for something to get posted. There's really no reason to be banning people just for posting someone else's spritework or art if due credit is given. Now, if someone posts someone else's art and claims it as their own, that's another issue entirely. Copyright aside (there's no case to be made, as I've demonstrated above), that's robbing the original artist's time and work (not to mention credit), which falls under the category of plagiarism, which is against the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darros Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) Is direct-linking from a site such as Tumblr or deviantArt covered by this? (Neither are image-hosting sites per se, but they are clearly designed to host content that gets a lot of hits.) I would like to know this too. And what if we're copying images from the main site. Does that count as warnable? Edited November 14, 2011 by Komatsu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Laufeyson Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Seeing how everyone and their mother uses various tumblr images regardless of who uploaded it, i would like to know that as well. I have loads of things bookmarked that i didnt upload myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 (edited) I'll get back to you guys on the deviantArt and tumblr questions. Just look out for a post in this thread within the next couple days. Chances are they'll be acceptable, at least from within your own account. Edited November 15, 2011 by Tangerine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Well it keeps the staff busy checking the URL of every posted image, I suppose. MP3 links? I've never seen anyone post an MP3 link before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashGordon94 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 Another thing, is it okay to "hotlink" from the main site? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 (edited) Another thing, is it okay to "hotlink" from the main site? Edit: Nevermind, I understand what you mean now. Edited November 16, 2011 by V-Raven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashGordon94 Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 So, got any word on the questions yet, staff people? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 (edited) Still waiting. The only thread on their forum I could find about hotlinking policy was from 2010, so I had the staff contacted and am just waiting to see what's up. Edited November 24, 2011 by Tangerine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalconVegeta1986 Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 So, when I post a picture on photobucket (like for weapon icons), and copy the image tag so it appears directly in my posts here, that is not allowed anymore? How about copying the link from youtube so a video appears directly in my posts, is that not allowed either? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Florete Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 So, when I post a picture on photobucket (like for weapon icons), and copy the image tag so it appears directly in my posts here, that is not allowed anymore? How about copying the link from youtube so a video appears directly in my posts, is that not allowed either? Photobucket is an image hosting site so you can post images from there. Youtube should also be allowed, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ϲharlie Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 So, when I post a picture on photobucket (like for weapon icons), and copy the image tag so it appears directly in my posts here, that is not allowed anymore? No, posting images from sites like Photobucket is allowed, although it would be wise to avoid linking from a Photobucket account you don't own. How about copying the link from youtube so a video appears directly in my posts, is that not allowed either? No, that's still allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalconVegeta1986 Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 So it's cool as long as it's my own PB account and my own photos. Or stating that something isn't mine and giving proper credit for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uguu Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 [18:28:34] Grainne correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding of hotlinking is basically you are taking the bandwidth of an image/video/whatever without giving the hosting site a hit [18:28:37] that seems simple enough HERE. If it fits this definition it is hotlinking. If it is an image YOU uploaded to a website that exists solely to upload stuff to (ex: imgur, youtube) "hotlink" away, that's literally the entire reason those websites exist. As for the main site? Just shut up and rehost it regardless of whether you're allowed to or not you lazy fucks holy shit it doesn't take that much effort. What a hive of scum and villainy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted November 27, 2011 Author Share Posted November 27, 2011 How eloquently put. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Glenn Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 Alternatively, if you're too lazy to host something yourself, then just link it instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalconVegeta1986 Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 I had never heard of hotlinking before this topic, so forgive my ignorance. But thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.