? http_request_basic_auth.patch
Index: includes/common.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/includes/common.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.698
diff -u -p -r1.698 common.inc
--- includes/common.inc	8 Oct 2007 14:08:19 -0000	1.698
+++ includes/common.inc	10 Oct 2007 23:25:22 -0000
@@ -458,6 +458,11 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $head
     'Content-Length' => 'Content-Length: '. strlen($data)
   );
 
+  // If the server url has a user then attempt to use basic authentication
+  if (isset($uri['user'])) {
+    $defaults['Authorization'] = 'Authorization: Basic '. base64_encode($uri['user'] .(!empty($uri['pass']) ? ":". $uri['pass'] : ''));
+  }
+
   foreach ($headers as $header => $value) {
     $defaults[$header] = $header .': '. $value;
   }