diff --git a/src/Mod/Start/CMakeLists.txt b/src/Mod/Start/CMakeLists.txt
index 65d2681d3f..30832b0eb6 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Start/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/Mod/Start/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ if(BUILD_GUI)
         StartPage.css
         StartPage.js
         StartPage.html
+        EnableDownload.py
         images/Background.jpg
         images/FreeCAD.png
         images/PartDesign.png
diff --git a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/EnableDownload.py b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/EnableDownload.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..26f54de55e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/EnableDownload.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#***************************************************************************
+#*                                                                         *
+#*   Copyright (c) 2012                                                    * 
+#*   Yorik van Havre <yorik@uncreated.net>                                 * 
+#*                                                                         *
+#*   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify  *
+#*   it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL)    *
+#*   as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of     *
+#*   the License, or (at your option) any later version.                   *
+#*   for detail see the LICENCE text file.                                 *
+#*                                                                         *
+#*   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,       *
+#*   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of        *
+#*   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the         *
+#*   GNU Library General Public License for more details.                  *
+#*                                                                         *
+#*   You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public     *
+#*   License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software   *
+#*   Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  *
+#*   USA                                                                   *
+#*                                                                         *
+#***************************************************************************
+
+import FreeCAD,FreeCADGui
+rf=FreeCAD.ParamGet("User parameter:BaseApp/Preferences/Mod/Start")
+rf.SetBool("AllowDownload",True)
diff --git a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.js b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.js
index 33e33ce4bb..d941bc005c 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.js
+++ b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 var linkDescriptions = [];
+var allowDownloads = 0;
 
 function JSONscriptRequest(fullUrl) {
     // REST request path
@@ -85,6 +86,10 @@ function stripTags(text) {
 
 function showTweets(data) {
     ddiv = document.getElementById('news');
+    if (allowDownloads == 0) {
+        ddiv.innerHTML = '<a href="EnableDownload.py" onClick="enableDownloads()">text70</a> text71';
+        return;
+    }
     ddiv.innerHTML = "Received";
     var html = ['<ul>'];
     for (var i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
@@ -103,6 +108,17 @@ function showTweets(data) {
     resize(); // intentional javascript hack
 }
 
+function enableDownloads() {
+    allowDownloads = 1;
+    // load latest news
+    ddiv = document.getElementById("news");
+    ddiv.innerHTML = "Connecting...";
+    var tobj=new JSONscriptRequest('https://api.github.com/repos/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/commits?callback=showTweets');
+    tobj.buildScriptTag(); // Build the script tag
+    tobj.addScriptTag(); // Execute (add) the script tag
+    ddiv.innerHTML = "Downloading latest news...";
+}
+
 function showDescr(d) {
     if (d) {
         show(linkDescriptions[d-1]);
diff --git a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.py b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.py
index 0df2a52a4c..56ba70885a 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.py
+++ b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/StartPage.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ from .TranslationTexts import (text01, text02, text03, text04, text05, text06,
                               text49, text50, text51, text52, text53, text54,
                               text55, text56, text57, text58, text59, text60,
                               text61, text62, text63, text64, text65, text66,
-                              text67, text68, text69)
+                              text67, text68, text69, text70, text71)
 
 try:
     import io as cStringIO
@@ -284,6 +284,8 @@ def replace_js_text(html):
     html = html.replace("text58", text58)
     html = html.replace("text59", text59)
     html = html.replace("text63", text63)
+    html = html.replace("text70", text70)
+    html = html.replace("text71", text71)
     return html
 
 def handle():
@@ -298,6 +300,10 @@ def handle():
         
     # add custom blocks
     html = html.replace("customblocks",getCustomBlocks())
+    
+    # enable web access if permitted
+    if FreeCAD.ParamGet("User parameter:BaseApp/Preferences/Mod/Start").GetBool("AllowDownload",False):
+        html = html.replace("var allowDownloads = 0;","var allowDownloads = 1;")
 
     html = replace_html_text(html)
     # fetches system colors
diff --git a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/TranslationTexts.py b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/TranslationTexts.py
index cd02989b94..b33f897057 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/TranslationTexts.py
+++ b/src/Mod/Start/StartPage/TranslationTexts.py
@@ -124,3 +124,5 @@ text66 = translate("StartPage", "Author")
 text67 = translate("StartPage", "Company")
 text68 = translate("StartPage", "License")
 text69 = translate("StartPage", "Load an FEM 3D new solver example analysis")
+text70 = translate("StartPage", "Click here")
+text71 = translate("StartPage", "to allow FreeCAD to access the internet")