Reply #7: You can especially if it is a small hobby type web site.

[JohnyCanuck]

Linking to a picture on another web site could chew up that web site's bandwith allowance pretty quickly as each time the DU thread where the link was posted was clicked on by a DUer or a lurker at DU the picture would be downloaded again. This could lead to excess bandwith charges to the web site owner, or his web site access could be shut off by his ISP once his/her agreed upon bandwith allowance is used up.

If it's a big web site like a major newspaper etc. or one that is high volume and therefore has lots of bandwith available, it's usually not much of a problem. However, some major web sites will still have a policy to block other web sites linking directly to their pictures as described in the posts above. In that case when you try to link directly to a picture, you'll get a little box with a red "X" instead of seeing the picture you're expecting.