Preventing ,wmv streaming using .htaccess

Please help a newbie

[euroraps]

Hi, I am new to the website administration where I am currently maintaining a site which hosts some videos in .wmv format. The problem is a 'competitor' is stealing my precious bandwidth by embedding the .wmv file link to his website and steaming it there.

How can I prevent this using .htaccess? Please, any help would be greatly appreciated!

[phranque]

welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com], euroraps!

here is a mini-tutorial on preventing hotlinking of images [webmasterworld.com].
you can use the same principles to protect unreferred .wmv files and either serve an alternate video or simply a "Forbidden" response.
if you don't get it right be sure to share your results and ask more questions...

[jdMorgan]

The problem is that unlike most browsers, most media players do not send the HTTP_REFERRER header, so referrer-based access control methods are doomed to fail.

This recent thread [webmasterworld.com] may be more useful because of that.

Jim