Before we get into what Bandwidth theft is in more detail below, we have a policy in this group that we will spot check any  "Images" that is posted on our message board by right clicking on them and looking inside the properties. If that image properties starts with a www site then it is hot-linked AKA "bandwidth theft" and it will be deleted at once. We will "try" to leave you a message why your post was deleted if possible under your original post that was just deleted, so hopefully you will not repeat the same mistake twice and if we do see a future pattern of bandwidth thief in the future by that same member, then at that time your account in our group will be banned for life.         SO WHAT IS BANDWIDTH THEFT? To make this issue as simple as possible for everyone and more so for those users who are new to the computer I have came up with this: Most people browse the internet and see funny things and think that they would like to share it with their friends in a group. Now if you do see something on another web site and you think that you can just copy and paste it on another web site or a message board page for others to have a laugh at, then what you just did is what we called BANDWIDTH THEFT.   The reason why it is Bandwidth theft is because that picture or clip art that you have just copied and pasted is still linked back to that www web site server without the website owners knowledge or consent and you are using bandwidth every time someone clicks on either your web site or the message board post and looks at that picture(s). By doing this you can make web sites exceed their bandwidth allowance causing the site to be temporarily shut down and/or cost a higher bill for that web site when they have to pay for bandwidth used that month. Some people don't even know they are "stealing" or may not even realize they are doing this, but the majority of those who are stealing bandwidth know exactly what they are doing!   If you think this is an unreasonable request,   I hope your neighbor hooks up their hose to YOUR faucet to fill their in-ground swimming pool;   or I hope they hook an extension cord to YOUR socket to power their lights;   And YOU get stuck with the bill for all that water or electricity. THAT is what direct linking, hot linking, (which is bandwidth theft) is equivalent to!   You have NO idea how many great sites have disappeared the past few years because they couldn't afford the bandwidth cost when people would not respect their request to NOT direct link to graphics, music files, etc.         Now here is what you can do to stop this.   1). Always copy the picture you want to copy or use to your own computer first, then upload them to one of your MSN Groups photo albums.   It is very easy to copy an image from a PC. Just hold your mouse over the image that you want to copy and right click on the mouse button. When the drop down menu appears select the "Save As" and you will be given another menu so you can select the file name and location of where you want to save the image.    2). Once saved on your computer, then you can upload to a server of your choice, like a MSN Photo Albums first. Make sure those image(s) what you have saved on your computer is uploaded FIRST to an MSN photo albums before using on our message board.   It is very easy for anyone to check these images on the message board by right click on them and looking at the properties.   As stated above, if anything that starts with a www site it is a hot-link aka "bandwidth theft" it will be deleted at once, if those properties start with http//groups.msn.com then we know you have uploaded to MSN servers.     So you are asking yourself why should we care if they picture is copied and pasted or uploaded? This is a very good reason for MSN to close our group or any other group down if that www web sites reports bandwidth theft by our group to MSN. It has happen before in the past to other groups and with many more new people coming on line and into MSN Groups each day, this is something that needs to be addressed. If you as a member happens to see something on the message board that is "hot-linked" you can report it to the Elders (Manager) at the report abuse page "HERE"      For more detail infomation, click on the link below:   <|WebWatch|>