Looking for a way to disable the "GET" button

Question

I have a user who would like to only allow the progressive streaming playback in iTunes U (ie disable the get button). I haven't seen any way to do this in the docs but it's entirely likely I'm missing some simple (or not) way to do this.

Answer 1

You know, say after about, oh, six, seven beers I sometimes think, "Hey, I should write a book about iTunes U." It would be called something like "Deploying iTunes U" ... it wouldn't make any money (few tech books do) ... but it would win me loads of "wuv" (remember this is the beer talking). Then, of course, the next day rolls along and I realize how much work writing a book would actually be ... and then I think, "Crapspackle! ... how many beers did I have?"
But if I were to write that iTunes U book, Chapter 1 would be called "About iTunes U" (every tech book has to start this way ... "About XML", "About MySQL", "About TCP/IP" ... like that) ... and the last section in that chapter would be called "What iTunes U is not". The first few paragraphs in that section would read this way ...
iTunes U is not a streaming service. Sure, content displayed in iTunes U can be double-clicked and it will play ... in effect, content does stream. But while iTunes U can be made to stream content, you should not think of it as a generalized streaming service. The model for iTunes U is the iTunes Store. Think about why the iTunes Store succeeds. Podcasters do not stream ... people have been streaming since the mid-90s ... but podcasting took the world by storm. Why? Because content wasn't tethered to a network connection ... it became as portable as the iPod. This is the model you're buying into; this is the target you're aiming for.
Whenever faculty at my site make "But ... !!" arguments, they pretty much run along one of the following lines:
1. When I stream, students can't redistribute my content. I have control.
Any reasonably determined person can capture a stream and redistribute it -- it is not technically "hard" to do. If a student wants to get your content onto an iPod or a PSP, he/she can easily do so. Do not fool yourself into thinking it can't happen. Chance are, it already has.
2. I have copyrighted material in my content -- I can't afford for students to redistribute my content. I have to "know" that only students can get access to my content.
See response to Argument 1. In addition, I have found that many instructors have naive notions about what copyright permits and forbids (and please do not be offended if you, dear reader, are an instructor ... copyright is really complicated, it's not your fault). From a copyright standpoint, streaming is basically irrelevant (you are not "protected" if you stream).
At my university, we have a designated copyright authority. It is her job to know what's permitted and what's not for us. In any conversation with a faculty member about whether to stream or not, I always recast the question this way: "Are you allowed to use the material in a public way at all?" In every instance, I refer the questioning faculty member to our copyright expert for clarification.
3. I want to make sure my students are sitting at desktop computer when they view my content. A stream forces them to do so.
Not anymore. Think about how many phones have YouTube clients. Remember that these technologies are, for the most part, being driven by what students say they need. Students want to learn asynchronously -- that is, they want to listen to a summary of your lecture while commuting to campus; they want to listen to your supplementary materials while working out. A significant part of what makes iTunes U so cool and unique is that it exploits the synergy that exists between iTunes, the iTunes Store, and iPod music players. When you try to force students to view your material as a stream, you break this synergy. If you will not provide content the way students want to get it, they'll create their own solutions (see response to Argument 1).
It can be tough to wrap your head around, but if you provide students with what they want, they won't circumvent your efforts. In effect, you will have the greater control. It requires a Zen way of thinking. If you focus on creating great content, and letting students get access to it asynchronously, you are taking away from the the major motivation for redistributing your work without permission.