PHP Download Page
<p>How do these PHP download pages (e.g. somesite.com/download.php?id=somefile) often found work?</p>

<p>I originally thought of a page that does the counter stuff, and then simply redirects the user to the files URL (which seems to be the only answer given elsewhere, however I don't see how this provides all the functionality), however among other things, this wouldn’t prevent direct linking, and doesn’t allow me to password protect some files. Some sites even seem to implement download speed limiting (based on user account), queue users, etc.</p>
