how to setup cron job for hotlink protection

[mark1491]

I have a server that is hosting videos. Since I only have a 10mbps line and around 150 users on all the time, I have to keep those who get the directory name and filename of my videos from embedding them onto their sites and using up my bandwidth. .htaccess will not work becuase microsoft windows media player gets around that. Trust me I have tried doing .htaccess in every way possible.

The only way I thought of doing it is by using a cron job on the server where it would:

-Change the folder that the videos are in to a random number and then rename that folder.
-It would also go into the sql database and run one query which will update a field to the new name from above.
-I would like to run the cron job like every 2 hours.

This way if a user embeds the video onto their site it can only work for a max of 2 hrs before the folder is renamed and the video won't play for them!

Would anyone know the code to do this?

Thank in advance,
Mark

[atmorell]

You could store your videos in a blob in mysql, and generate a random id for each video file. Create a fucntion that returns the blob (video) field for the given id. You could allso create a mysql trigger/cron job that generated new random id's for your mysql video table fields. That way users can't link to your videos. They don't know the random id that returns the video file, and if they do it will be changed e.g every hour.

get a video www.something.com?video=4234234325345342342343223432

I know this can be done with pictures, but maybe it is not a good idea if you have huge files. :/

Best regards.
Asbjørn Morell.