In recent months I've noticed evidence of some of my pages and graphics being loaded from the hard drives of people's computers. While I don't mind people copying the pages of the backgrounds and sets to duplicate the layouts, you really need to remove my stuff such as my Sitemeter coding. I don't know what else you're copying, so I can only assume you're direct-linking to my graphics as well.
For that reason, I've enabled password-protected directories for both the backgrounds and sets. You will now have to enter the username and password I've provided in order to view those pages and graphics.
This is a problem almost all of the graphics designers I know on the 'Net have encountered. It is very discouraging to provide graphics for free and to have people steal bandwidth by hotlinking to them. Many of us do not use free web hosting providers. Even if we did, bandwidth is severely limited and we get into trouble by them shutting down our sites temporarily, even permanently, if we exceed the bandwidth provided to us. If you use free hosts, you know what the situation is like. It isn't that different with paid shared hosting either.
In addition to password-protecting directories, I am blocking IP addresses of visitors suspected of hotlinking. Unfortunately, that means that anyone else using that shared IP address, if it is shared, will also be blocked from my site.
These actions are necessary to protect my interests as outlined in my Terms of Use, section 7. If you have any questions or comments regarding any of the above, please go to my Contact page and fill out the e-mailer form. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
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