Back in the Old Days

I made a comment in a discussion that, at least in the old days, setting up an archive and directly linking to fics on someone else's archive was a big no no, hence my hesitation to set up a list of fan fic recs because it seems like the same thing. Someone asked me "Why on earth would anyone get upset about that? Isn't that what the internet is for?"

I tried to respond and it was basically "Well, it was a big deal then and it's hard to explain now because a lot of stuff is different." I was trying to think of anyone who would remember that and this comm came to mind.

So do you guys remember those days? I can remember at least one case where someone hotlinked an entire archive and there were some pretty pissed off people. What was the reasoning? And was this just a comic book fandom thing or was it a general rule among all fandoms back then?

I hope no one minds me posting this here, but it seems topical and we haven't had a post in two years, which makes me a little sad.