What are remote linking & bandwidth theft?
When someone visits your page, each file gets served up by the server that it is on. This uses bandwidth & that costs money.
If you have an image or a MIDI file on your page that is hosted elsewhere, there is a cost to the other server. This cost gets passed on to the owner of the site. Since you are using something that doesn't belong to you, it is theft, in this case, bandwidth theft. You are stealng from the site owner.
Everyone has been guilty of bandwidth theft at one time or another, usually when you first start making sigs for your email. You see a neat image, so you put it in your sig. But every time someone opens an email from you or reads a post of yours at a newsgroup, it costs something to display that image or play that song you like so much. Don't do it!
The cost of bandwidth theft is so high that many hosts now block remote (or direct) linking to files in email, even your own files.
WebTV users are especially guilty of bandwidth theft. The problem is so severe that some servers are blocking access to their files by WebTV users. That means you no longer have access to some of the best midis & images on the net. We need to clean up our act & be responsible netizens.
How can I help?
Very simple, always transload all files you want to use to your own server.
Does this mean that I shouldn't have links to other sites?
No, provide links to other sites freely. They will help to make your page more interactive for your visitors & allow them to see what others have to say about your topic. It's part of what the web is all about. Adding a hypertext link to another page is not bandwidth theft on your part.
For more information on bamdwidth and how it works, please visit Cool Kat's excellent page:
Bandwidth 101!
I am happy to report that DC has reopened his site to WebTV Users. Please download all files that you want to use.