Yet another thought. (Wow two in one week! I hope I don’t make a habit of this.)

Two options we have been playing around with are password protection and having to type the text we see in a graphic image.  There is an older technology that we can modify, that just may add the security against bots, without creating any extra effort from our visitors. (I say we, because we are supposed to be a community, therefore the health of the site affects us all).Instead of having separate buttons for “donate with Paypal”, “Download” (or “View Larger” for art, or “Play Video” for animations), we simply have one large image.The image would be generated by the server, stamping the buttons in random locations.  When the visitor clicks on the image, only the location on the image is sent to the server.  If the visitor clicks on a valid area, the appropriate action takes place and the result is logged.  If the visitor clicks on a non-valid location, that is logged too.  Cheaters would be found out when the invalid outnumber the valid clicks.  The image would have to display large, but have a very small file size, to insure quick loading. 

What do you think?  I know this is possible, but do you think it would actually work to reduce bots without alienating visitors?