Speaking as an avid and (despite my saying so myself) gifted amateur photographer, let me say that to download, copy, pass along, and use as wallpaper someone else?s images, without even so much as giving artistic credit to the photographer, saddens me. Photographers own all rights to their own images unless, and until, they give permission for someone else to use or publish them. It?s not about whether money changes hands; it?s about the right to own what you own.
Let me just ask you all to consider, next time you wish to show off someone else?s photographs, that you put some effort into giving credit to the artist, or (at the very least) that you provide a link to the site at which you found the images (I see one of you did do that).
All of the images that I have used as wallpaper, that I use for my screen saver, and that I have used for Avatars on this forum, have been my own photographs. If anyone wants to use one of my images for a non-commercial purpose, you have but to ask. Do a Google search for ?pbase artist charlie beck? and you will find them. But please do not download any of my work without first asking.