Hotlink Protection Can't Help (explained Why)

[LinuxHata]

Let's say:

 

I have site myTCHsite.com with file myTCHsite.com/myfile.zip

 

I have set hotlink protection to disallow direct links, and any other referrer than myTCHsite.com

 

Someone has posted link to that file at othersite.com

 

What will happen when user clicks on it?

 

If user is using plain browser - everything is OK, he'll be unable to download myfile.zip

 

BUT, if he is using some kind of download manager, like flashget, he'll download file easily. Why? because they calculate referrer from file url, not actual page.

 

SO, I think that there are NO WAY, to protect links from stealing by modifying .htaccess (thing what hotlink protection does)

 

Maybe I'm wrong? tell me so, if I'm.

[TweezerMan]

Hotlink protection is indeed no guarantee for preventing another site from stealing your content. Hotlink protection works by examining the 'referer' string sent with a page/file request, and this string can be arbitrarily set to any value by the user (including none). It is merely a deterrent - there are a number of well-known ways to get around hotlink protection if the user is willing to go to the trouble.

 

You may be able to block access to your files from programs like 'flashget' by checking UserAgent strings in your .htaccess file, but this is something you'd have to manually set up (you can't do this directly in CPanel). This isn't fool-proof either, but it would be another hurdle that a user would have to get past.