E3
"Hotlinking" is using the [img][/img]
tags to display an image from another website in a post. This uses the other site's bandwidth and is considered by many to be very impolite. Some website owners will go as far as changing the image to something offensive to punish people who do this. Some sites may allow hotlinking and even encourage it, especially image hosting sites, however it is up to the Member to ensure that is the case prior to using a hotlink to the content. It is not hotlinking to provide a link to content on another site.
It is not the responsibility of the
moderator team to check up on website permissions. If you believe you have permission to hotlink to a website, you must provide evidence yourself. (Exceptions are well known hosting sites such as Photobucket, see:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com...d.php?t=175376 for other common sites that allow hotlinking.) Even where hotlinking is allowed, it is still considered polite to provide a reference to the source of the image.