Hello ... The latest version of getBioC (1.2.22) now supports alternate download methods, re download.file(). Most users will not have any need to change this from the default ("auto", just like in download.file()), but people who are seeking to work around firewalls and proxies will probably need to make use of things like the "wget" method. To deviate from the default of "auto", simply provide a 'method=XXX' parameter (where XXX is 'internal', 'wget' or 'lynx') to your getBioC call. -Jeff