i'm in the same boat, mickeroo, been actively looking for some options for streaming flash video. prices are all over the board. you can do progressive download without the need for a streaming server, but there's a lot more protection and control over the streaming when you use the streaming server. I just came across an alternative to the Adobe server this week from a company called wowza media -- i have nothing to do with them, but it seems to be an affordable option to the official Flash Media Server. Am also looking for integration with a pay-per-minute or pay-per-view system for Flash Video...if anyone knows of companies or developers offering this.