Re: file:// protocol security workarounds?

[Mitchell Stoltz]

No, the two ways you mentioned are the only ways currently. I'm looking 
for ways to relax that restriction, which I hope to have done by Mozilla 
1.4 beta.
     -Mitch

Vincent Kargatis wrote:
Can someone catalog the possible ways to get a file:// URL to work
from an http:// page?  The use case is a browser-based e-education
site accessing a user's CD-ROM.
From googling, I gather there are at least two approaches:
1) using signed scripts
2) manually editing the prefs.js file and adjusting a security
permission
(1) seems to be a fairly significant and impactful change on the
code/server side, while (2) is a fairly demanding request of oodles of
non-techie users.  Are there other options?  Is there a way to disable
this security through the Preferences page (to suggest as a
workaround)?
Or perhaps there's an obvious way to address the use case in another
way?
thanks,
Vincent Kargatis