There are many elements of web integrity, but I'm only addressing one aspect today. It seems there are many people on the Net and some here at AW, who just don't know about copyright infringement and netiquette.

As we all know, there are many graphic artists on the web. A lot of them have their pages totally devoted to graphics to help newbies get a start with their personal web pages. Some of these art sites get over 10,000 hits a day, all from people uploading free art from their web sites.

The big problem, however, is that many of these fine people are losing their web sites due to people linking directly (hot linking) to their servers to use their graphics, sounds or other items, which causes them to pay large sums of money to keep the hosting web site running. Hotlinking to another site is bandwidth theft.

Over the years, many web artists have lost their web sites due to people linking directly to their servers causing them to be billed extremely large sums of money. Most have no alternative but to shut down. In addition, many web artists get fed up with people taking their graphics without a by your leave, thank you or credit. Mad Hatter Graphics is one that comes to mind off the top of my head.

Most of us are familiar with sites where we can find custom backgrounds and graphics that are given free to noncommercial sites or personal web page builders. We have several digital artists here at AW who have done this for AW members in the past. All they asked was that the graphics be uploaded to your own site (i.e., your AW image space or places like Photobucket) and that you give them CREDIT for these graphics on the pages where they are used or a credit link to where the credit information is stored (example: our journals).

There is no LEGITIMATE reason to link directly to someone else's graphics when you are designing your own web page. If you do, you are committing bandwidth theft and that is simply wrong. Like I said, bandwidth theft is the main cause for sites going belly up.

Read more about:
1. COPYRIGHT
2. BANDWIDTH THEFT
3. NETIQUETTE

Another issue: It shows a huge lack of integrity to display graphics and/or text created by other people and then post your own copyright logo on the same page. I am seeing this at AW recently at several homesites. There is also a certain individual who is using custom-made avatars that are not hers without permission or credit and sometimes posting a copyright on the same page.

Most of the avatars and standard homesite text at AW are available to AW members to use without permission, but to assume to copyright the pages hosting these avatars and/or text is ludicrous and laughable.

In summary, sites offering free graphics are doing a service for the whole Internet community. They make and/or provide the graphics for people for FREE and do not ask for much in return EXCEPT the following:

That you DO NOT LINK DIRECTLY TO THEIR GRAPHICS
That you ask permission - and get it - BEFORE using any of their graphics
That you give them credit for their work!

I realize that some sites, like VROMA, allow hotlinking to their graphics and reproduction of their information, but a person of integrity would AT LEAST display a source for the graphic/text on the page it appears and WOULD NOT post their own copyright on that page.

Source: Mary Broussard. Personal information and editorial comments in this post are mine.