Confused by Exam Question

Question

I have got this question from past exam papers and I can't figure out what it is trying to ask me to say...

The question is...

Explain the difference between HREF and IMG tags used in HTML document to link content held on other web sites, and describe potential of links for 'passing off'

What I don't get is HREF is not a HTML tag so am getting confused... Does anyone else understand what they mean?

Here is similar question from another past paper.

Discuss the use of HREF versus IMG tags in HTML to link content held on other web sites. Is there any difference, from a moral or legal perspective, concerning the usage of these two types? Provide an example of potential misuse of web links.

Answer 1

I guess what they want to hear about is the difference between linking to an image and displaying it inline ("hotlinking"). The wording is not totally correct, you're right, but especially the mentioning of a "moral or legal" perspective seems to hint at the question wether it's ok to hotlink an image on someone else's site.

Answer 2

Perhaps they want you to discuss the difference between <a href="" /> and <img src="" />. One allows you to link to a website, which will load that remote content upon click, whereas the other allows you to load the remote content immediately. While linking with an anchor should have no legal issues, you may find problems loading people's images into your website without prior consent.