Preparing Digital Video and Audio Downloadable Files

If the digital download feature is enabled for eCommerce, you can offer an audio or video recording in a file that shoppers can download to their personal computer after purchase. The product files are not copy-protected, but they are not visible to the Internet except through a special download servlet. In addition, the links generated are unique to the purchase being made and can be set to expire after either a specified time or number of uses.

You can upload and store the audio or video file on:

• The Luminate Online server where the file size limit is 10MB (suitable for small files only)

• A host server of your choosing where the file size limit determined by that host

• Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) where the limit is 5GB (which is best for very large files). For details, refer to Integrating eCommerce with Amazon Web Services S3.

When published, the downloadable file products display in the catalog just like other products. A button to download each purchased file is displayed on the confirmation pages of a completed purchase (that is, multiple download buttons display even when the same product is purchased multiple times.)

If you link to a file residing on another server, you can append a timestamp, an MD5 hash of that timestamp, and a shared secret that the sever on which the file resides can use to verify legitimacy of the link and to enforce an expiration period for it.