I maintain a remote podcast collection, providing m3u playlists and mp3 tracks via http.
For the most part, Amarok (1.4.5 on ubuntu) plays this very well.  However, on longer mp3's,
around the 40 minute mark, playback abruptly ends and it goes on to the next track.
I guess the httpd (an old generic apache) is timing out and closing the connection.

So: is there a way to ask amarok to load the entire mp3 at the start of play?

Absent that solution, I suppose I could investigate running a personal httpd
with longer timeouts.

For an example playlist, see:
  http://mathcs.emory.edu/~mic/podcasts/remote.m3u