Necessary Evils

Necessary Evils

I hate to do this, but unfortunately it boils down to this: A few things regarding legal issues must be discussed. My site is an informational website. I don't sell anything, and even though I belong to several plant and horticultural societies and I am a dues-paying garden writer, I do not "front" for any professional organization. I have spent as much time, if not more time, researching the copyright issues with regards to images used on this site than I have writing and setting this site up. There have been constant e-mails, and personal phone calls sent to various folks who own the pictures and graphics that I use on my site. I have done my utmost to honor the conditions set forth from those sites where I have obtained graphics other than my own. I am far from perfect, and if I have inadvertently added something to this site that I should not have, my apologies, and it will be off of the site ASAP.

There is so much material on the Internet, and being as large as it is, it is difficult to police. Chances are, quite honestly, someone would not get "caught" if they "borrowed" some pretty little picture to add to his or her site. These people have gone through a lot of trouble putting their websites up, and we should all respect that. This is their artwork and material. If their graphics are not to be used, don't use them! If you gotta have something, e-mail them, call them, make arrangements, but do not add them! No is no. If they do not reply to an e-mail, don't use the material, period!

Most of the people out there are more than willing to share, if we just ask. You would be surprised how many people are tickled pink that I have gone through the trouble of contacting them. Most will give permission with the understanding that I will give them acknowledgment on the website, which I have done. This is what you see under the pictures that I use on this site. I have also purchased the rights to a number of graphics that I have used. Under no circumstances are any photos, graphics or articles on my site "free" for use on anybody else's website! If you want to purchase or use a graphic, contact the source that is listed. If for any reason you want to use a photo or anything that is my own, please contact me, I will be glad to discuss it with you.

One other little item I would like to mention is the issue of bandwidth theft. Bandwidth theft is also called "hotlinking" or direct linking. If you aren't aware of what that means, it is someone who is using the address from a website to directly "call up" or link to a graphic hosted on someone else's site, which means he isn't keeping it stored on his own computer and isn't uploading the file to his own file manager for his site. Now, all sites have some form of linking. I have links to other sites, and other sites are linking here to my site. But, that is a whole lot different. Hotlinking is stealing or tapping into a website's monthly bandwidth limit to display something directly from that site, usually a graphic or other file.

A good analogy is let's suppose you have gone on vacation. You come back home to find out that you have a huge light bill. You haven't used it, but when you ask your electric company to check the meter, the guy they send out there finds that your deadbeat neighbor has tapped into your powerline to run the electricity in his house. That is essentially what it means to hotlink to a file from someone's website. So, if someone is using "http://gardengal.net/abc.gif" on their site without my permission, it is hotlinking, and that is serious. I don't know if many people realize it, but bandwidth costs the site owner money. Usually, there is an alotted amount of bandwidth useage included in a hosting plan such as the one I have purchased to keep this site ad-free. If the bandwidth useage goes over a certain limit each month, then the site owner or webmaster is notified and has to pay the difference. Simply put, there is no justification for theft!

We all live on the Internet community. Let's respect each other's property and rights.

Now I will close. Arlo, my garden cat and personal buddy, agreed to have his picture added to this article. He is a nice kitty, but we figured it would be all right for him to pose for this. Because black cats have all those silly connotations that surround them, we figured we'd use him because the title of this piece is "Necessary Evils". He has a great sense of humor! The moral: Above all else, maintain a sense of humor and good sportsmanship. Enough said!