Using PHP to Stream MP3 Files and Prevent Illegal Downloading - How Illegal Downloads Happen
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The obvious issues that cause it to be easy to download or otherwise get at the MP3 material are the following:
1. The download directory is very accessible to visitors.
No matter what anti-piracy efforts you have engaged in, if you made the download directory visible, that is the end of your marketing efforts. For example:
http://www.somewebsite.com/fewdsd/65ffs.mp3
Anyone with basic knowledge of web technology understands that to be able to download “65ffs.mp3,” all you need to do is navigate to the download directory. This is just obvious; you are telling them the exact URL of your MP3 location. Using this type of URL format is not recommended if you need to protect your MP3s from illegal downloading. Anyone can copy and paste the URL into the browser, and then start downloading your precious work.
2. The browser caches the MP3 and stores it in the local temporary Internet folder.
This is just silly. I have heard some developers claim that they have foolproof protection to prevent downloading, only to find out that the songs still end up in their visitor's local hard drive temporary Internet folder.
3. A direct link has been used to play the MP3.
This is not recommended. This means that a hyperlink is used to play the file. By default, a hyperlink pointing to an MP3 file will be automatically played by the browser as it detects the content type to be in audio/MP3 format.
A direct link will then expose the URL in the browser in the address bar, which will make it very easy to steal the MP3's content. For example:
<a href=”http://www.somewebsite.com/fewdsd/65ffs.mp3”>Play this song</a>
This hyperlinked code can then be embedded in the HTML, and will be shown like this:
Play this song
So when that link is clicked, of course the browser address bar will then display the URL location of the MP3.
These three fundamentals are what basically comprise the flaws in a website's development that allow illegal downloading to occur.
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