Index: xbmc/utils/HTTP.cpp
===================================================================
--- xbmc/utils/HTTP.cpp (revision 10626)
+++ xbmc/utils/HTTP.cpp (working copy)
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@
 {
   CStdString strURL = "http://www.google.com";
   if (!checkDNS)
-    strURL = "http://66.102.7.99"; // www.google.com ip
+    strURL = "http://74.125.19.103"; // www.google.com IP address
   int status = Open(strURL, "HEAD", NULL);
   Close();
 
@@ -926,7 +926,6 @@
     case 302:
       // 302 Found - auto redirect if this is a GET
       //Post redirect has to work for scrapers
-      //CanHandle = !stricmp(verb, "GET");
       CanHandle = true;
       break; 
     case 303:
@@ -941,8 +940,10 @@
     }
 
     Close();
-
-    if (!CanHandle)
+    
+    // pass through HEAD requests, as we assume that if you did a head request
+    // you don't want to follow redirects etc.
+    if (!CanHandle || !stricmp(verb, "HEAD"))
     {
       CLog::Log(LOGERROR, "Server returned: %d %s", status, strReason.c_str());
       return status; // unhandlable