We have discussed this topic of the current distribution in the QHE in some detail to convince the reader that the concentration of the potential drop (and hence of the current) near the edges can be understood from the electrostatics of edge charges, but cannot be used to test the validity of a linear response formulation of the QHE in terms of edge states. Indeed, edge states were completely neglected in the foregoing theoretical analysis, which nonetheless captures the essential features of the experiment.