Introduction to Trouble

Before January of 1998, WebTV users had no way of copying a sound or music file for use on a homepage or in e-mail (unlike people with a PC, who can copy anything with the click of a mouse). This meant whenever we wanted to put a picture or background music on our homepage or in our e-mail messages, we could only easily do it by linking to the picture or sound file in its original location. It is now possible to copy files to a homepage for use in either the homepage or for use in e-mail, using your WebTV box and one of several special websites, described below.

Linking to files on their original webservers has become a serious problem, as more of us have learned to use pictures and sounds in e-mail and on our homepages. We've gotten a very bad reputation from this practice; since we now have an alternative, linking to other people's sites has become inexcusable.

What Linking Is

Any time a webpage or an e-mail message shows a graphic, or plays a piece of music, or offers any "clickable" picture or word that takes you to another webpage, it is linking to something.

This means that the graphic, music, or other page isn't on the webpage or e-mail you are looking at, but exists as a separate file on a server (an Internet-connected computer containing webpages) somewhere.

The Difference Between Linking to a Page and Linking to a Graphic or Music File

When you see a clickable link, one that shows you a picture or plays a song, or takes you to another page, it's called a hyperlink to that file or page. Hyperlinks only show a picture or play music when somebody clicks on them.

But in the case of a graphic or song that is seen/heard without clicking on anything, simply viewing the webpage activates the link. The server with the actual graphic or sound file on it has to give out that file every time someone looks at the page.

What Websites Do

Professional websites, and most homepages, get their webpage graphics and background music from their own server; that is, they have copied the picture and sound files to their own site. When somebody views their pages, the only computer that is working to provide the images and sounds is their own server.

What Happens When the Link to Webpage Graphics and Background Music is External

If the pictures or background sound files aren't on the same computer as the webpage (or in the case of e-mail images and sounds, whenever the files aren't on that person's own computer or homepage), every time somebody looks at that page or e-mail message, somebody else's server has to go to work to provide the music or graphic for viewing. If that person's page is very popular, or they use a graphic or sound in all their e-mail messages, the server with the graphic or sound file on it will have to work a lot to provide everybody with the music or picture.

This is true even of free homepages, in fact most free homepage providers don't allow remote linking (read the Terms of Service for the homepage provider); they may never make an issue of it, and at least it's between you and the people giving you the space. Tripod recently did put limitations on the ability to link to some files outside of the Tripod homepage site itself (GeoCities has begun to do the same), so this may be the wave of the future... For an explanation of why Tripod's making such a fuss, read this.

Why External Links are a Problem

People whose sound and picture files are constantly being linked to in this way have several problems. First, and most problematic, their Internet service provider charges them for all the accesses to their pages and files. The bill for these accesses can run into the hundreds or thousands of dollars a month, and if their files are being linked to just for the pictures and sounds, nobody is even seeing the pages they're coming from. They aren't even getting credit for supplying the pictures and sounds.

Many people have been forced to close down their websites because they can't pay these bills.

In addition to the cost of these links, artists are losing ownership of their work, because people are just taking it without crediting them.

To see what some people are doing in response to bandwidth theft, read about Web Guard.

For another explanation of these issues, explained in somewhat less technical language, read Lara's Bandwidth and You.

Alternatives to External Linking

You can now copy almost any image or sound file with a URL on the Internet to your own homepage directory, using only your WebTV terminal and a website called the Star Boulevard Transloader (and a few other sites), click here to learn how this is done (Star Boulevard now limits free transloads to 30k, anything larger requires a pay-based account; for other transloaders, visit Services for WebTVers).

Again, read your homepage provider's Terms of Service...all providers I'm aware of limit the use of the free space, particularly providing against "remote loading" (linking from somewhere other than the homepage itself) or use of the site merely for storage of files.

For users of any model of the WebTV Classic (new or old), the only way to get a personal picture that isn't already on somebody else's server is to have someone use a computer to upload the file to a homepage directory. There are several services offering uploading to WebTV users' homepages for a small fee, or free; click here to find some of them. If you have a Plus or Dishplayer, you can use a video camera, VCR, or some digital cameras to add your personal pics to e-mails, and transfer the pictures from the message to a home page (see Road2Surfdom's Video E-Mail Page and Beth's All I Know About Uploading for more information). Always turn off and unplug both the camera/VCR and the WebTV terminal before connecting them, or you can blow out the video-in circuit!

Please note: Copying existing files from websites and servers on the Internet can violate copyright, especially in the case of someone's personal artwork, music or writing, or commercial graphics or sounds.

Paul Erickson



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