How to use proxies to download files

I'm downloading a website with heaps 开发者_高级运维of GPL-licensed free content, however my computer exceeds the daily download limit of 20 files (out of some 10,000!)

Is there a proxy service I can use (via PHP) to continue accessing such content?

Yes, this is possible. See PHP's cURL: - http://php.net/manual/en/book.curl.php

Specifically: http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.curl-setopt.php : CURLOPT_HTTPPROXYTUNNEL

You may want to check that what you're doing is legal. Also, I'd imagine that you'll run into the same download limit, with a proxy.

You shouldn't be trying to bypass that limit. It's there to stop people like you from overloading their connection by trying to download everything.

If you really need to download the entire site, and the content is really free, maybe it's mirrored on another site where you can get at it more easily.

Edit: Or you could email the site administrator and ask nicely. Maybe he can give it to you in a convenient format or disable the limit for you.

Technically, shouldn't a proxy only get you an extra 20 files per day? I hope you have a lot of proxies lined up.

Another option would be to use Tor, which could potentially spread your requests amongst hundreds of end points.

Personally, I'd approach the site owner first. If the files truly are GPL and the host is following the spririt of GPL and not just trying to maximize advertising revenue, they shouldn't have too much of an issue giving you the lot.