Sam Gropler Dot Com - Why you shouldn't hotlink images.

Hotlinking images is bandwidth theft.

This is how I combat it.

The above image was used on my article about snipers. I can't remember where the image originally came from, but for years now I've used it on this site. I was checking the site referrer logs for my site recently when I found about 50-60 links from My Space. Weird, I think.

So I started clicking on the links to see what was happening. Of the 50-60 My Space pages, only about a dozen were publicly accessable. Every single one of those accessable by me featured the above image. I'm not worried about copyright issues, as it's not my image in the first place. I'm worried about the unauthorised use of my bandwidth, bandwidth that I pay for. Bandwidth theft, in other words.

If those people who wanted to use it simply downloaded it and re-hosted it somewhere themselves, I couldn't care less. Not to mention that I'd be none the wiser. However, they fucked up by choosing to leave it where it was. So I thought that it was time to fix them up good. I pulled a switcheroo. I did this a couple of years ago with an eBay seller who was using my ex-wifes images, eBay closed down about 40 auctions over that. But this time the problem is much more widespread.

For those unaware of what the switcheroo entails, it means pulling down the original image and replacing it with a different image with the exact same filename. Most people are fairly frivolous about what they put up, usually settling for an image that says the offendor is a bandwidth thief or similar.

Not me, I decided to fuck with people's minds. I thought of Goatse, I actually started off with Lemonparty. But that wasn't enough. A mate of mine discovered a picture of an overweight man dressed up in drag. Fairly sedate, I'm sure you're thinking. Well, this guy has a dildo in his mouth, a vibrator up his arse and his rampant, erect cock shoved up a plastic drink bottle. It's a pretty shocking fucking image, if you ask me. Good. I hope it scars people for life. So far, at least two My Space pages have been pulled by the My Space admins. Posts have been deleted by moderators from at least one forum. More than one person (on seperate forums) was using the image of a sniper as their avatar. The funniest ones though, were three pages used by the Keene, New Hampshire, USofA, US Army recruiting office. I didn't hack their My Space pages, I merely changed the name on an image on my very own website. If you want to see the image that I've swapped the sniper photo for, click here. Be warned, however, it's fairly shocking. My eyes bleed every time I look at it. Anyway, enough of the back story, here's a list of My Space pages, forums and forum users who were using the image:

All the sites featured above were showing the image as at 0600 GMT 16 Nov 2008. I'm sure as the word gets out, this will change. Please, spread this page around as much as you can, but do yourself a favour before you post it on forums...Make sure you won't get yourself suspended or banned for posting it, as it does contain links to material that is not safe for work and is inappropriate for children.

If the pages I've provided links to above have changed, I've taken screenshots for posterity. Twenty one embedded images, all featuring the same picture. If you think your stomach can handle it, click here.
You have been warned!

Hotlinking images is bandwidth theft.

This is how I combat it.

My Space users.

Forum threads where the image was used.

Forum users who have used the image as their avatar: