Apache Question

[Jonathan Hutchins]

Quoting Peter Amisano <pamisano at kc.rr.com>: 
 
> Is there a way to grant access to a folder but prevent downloading of files 
> from that folder? 
  
> ie. I have an mp3 jukebox running at http://archil.net/jukebox I wish to 
> allow people to listen to the mp3's yet in light of all the legal actions I 
> want to prevent downloading of the mp3's. 
 
Do you not have the legal right to distribute those files?  If so, that 
applies to allowing people to listen to them as well. 
 
Of course in order for the file to be listened to by an end-user, the contents 
of that file must be sent to that user's computer.  You may intend that the 
data not be stored permanently, but only long enough to be played, but the 
contents are still transferred, and can be saved by anyone clever enough to 
capture them. 
 
RealAudio uses a streaming protocol that allows you to place these 
restrictions.  Supposedly, a Real player is required to listen to the files, 
and the host can prevent the files from being saved, but either the player's 
protocol can be emulated and the data stream saved, or the output of the 
player can be captured and saved. 
 
I suppose you could use a VOIP protocol, but the output could still be 
captured and saved.  If you want to distribute something over the Internet, 
you pretty much have to accept that people who receive it can do what they 
want with it, it's not yours any more. 
 
 

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