When you hotlink, you are using someone else's bandwidth. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data that is transferred from a website to someone's computer, so each time someone views the page this image is on, data is being transferred from the site where the image is stored. The owner of that site likely pays for bandwidth. Many hosts will charge extra when too much bandwidth is used. By hotlinking, you are using someone else's bandwidth, hence the term bandwidth theft. Hotlinking is theft, and it is against the law.
Obviously the chances of any penalties for breaking this law are very minute/non-existent, but we just want to preserve the integrity of the Dojo, and try to keep things as tidy as we can. This isn't a message to one or two posters, but for all of us. Even as a moderator, i was hotlinking on a daily basis, before i was sat down and explained about why its not a good thing to hotlink, and the consequences it has.
To avoid this, just open an account with a hosting site, like photobucket, imgur, or instagram. Whatever you would like to post on the forums, upload it to there and then link it. Easy!
