diff --git a/Network/Shpider.hs b/Network/Shpider.hs
--- a/Network/Shpider.hs
+++ b/Network/Shpider.hs
@@ -41,8 +41,10 @@
    , module Network.Shpider.Options
    , module Network.Shpider.Forms
    , module Network.Shpider.Links
+   -- * Crawl Functions
    , download
    , sendForm
+   -- * Basic Parsing/Decision Support
    , getLinksByText
    , getLinksByTextRegex
    , getLinksByAddressRegex
@@ -50,6 +52,7 @@
    , getFormsHasAction
    , currentLinks
    , currentForms
+   -- * Utilities
    , parsePage
    , isAuthorizedDomain
    , withAuthorizedDomain
@@ -57,25 +60,23 @@
    ) 
    where
 
-import Network.Curl 
+import           Control.Concurrent
+import qualified Data.Map                as M
+import           Data.Maybe
+import           Data.Time
+import           Network.Curl
+import           Network.Shpider.Code
+import           Network.Shpider.Forms
+import           Network.Shpider.Links
+import           Network.Shpider.Options
+import           Network.Shpider.State
+import           Network.Shpider.URL
+import           Text.HTML.TagSoup
+import           Text.HTML.TagSoup
+import           Text.Regex.Posix
+import           Web.Encodings
 
-import Text.HTML.TagSoup
-import Text.Regex.Posix
 
-import qualified Data.Map as M
-import Data.Maybe
-
-import Text.HTML.TagSoup
-
-import Network.Shpider.State
-import Network.Shpider.URL
-import Network.Shpider.Code
-import Network.Shpider.Options
-import Network.Shpider.Forms
-import Network.Shpider.Links
-
-import Web.Encodings
-
 -- | if `keepTrack` has been set, then haveVisited will return `True` if the given URL has been visited.
 haveVisited :: String -> Shpider Bool
 haveVisited uncleanUrl = do
@@ -120,12 +121,49 @@
    setCurrentPage newP
    return newP
 
-curlDownload url = do
-   shpider <- get
-   res <- liftIO $ curlGetString url $ curlOpts shpider
-   r <- mkRes url res
-   return r
 
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- | Perform the given operation subject to blocking throttling based
+-- on the last time there was a download.
+withThrottle :: Shpider a -> Shpider a
+withThrottle f = do
+  let perform = do
+        res <- f
+        sh <- get
+        now <- liftIO $ getCurrentTime
+        put $ sh { lastDownloadTime = Just now }
+        return res
+  thOpt <- gets downloadThrottle
+  lastD <- gets lastDownloadTime
+  case thOpt of
+    Nothing -> perform
+    Just n -> do
+      case lastD of 
+        Nothing -> perform
+        Just ld -> do
+          th <- liftIO $ shouldThrottle n ld
+          case th of
+            Just x -> liftIO (threadDelay x) >> perform
+            Nothing -> perform
+            
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+-- | Test whether we need to throttle
+shouldThrottle :: Int -> UTCTime -> IO (Maybe Int)
+shouldThrottle n lastTime = do
+  now <- getCurrentTime
+  let n' = fromIntegral n / 1000000
+      diff = diffUTCTime now lastTime
+      delta = round . (* 1000000) $ n' - diff
+  return $  if delta > 0 then (Just delta) else Nothing
+
+
+curlDownload url = withThrottle $ do
+  shpider <- get
+  res <- liftIO $ curlGetString url $ curlOpts shpider
+  r <- mkRes url res
+  return r
+
 mkRes url ( curlCode , html ) = do
    p <- if curlCode == CurlOK
            then
@@ -135,7 +173,7 @@
    return ( ccToSh curlCode , p )
 
 
-curlDownloadPost url fields = do
+curlDownloadPost url fields = withThrottle $ do
    shpider <- get
    res <- liftIO $ curlGetString url $ opts shpider
    mkRes url res
@@ -146,7 +184,7 @@
       ] ++ curlOpts sh
 
 
-curlDownloadHead urlStr = do
+curlDownloadHead urlStr = withThrottle $ do
    shpider <- get
    liftIO $ curlHead urlStr $ curlOpts shpider
 
diff --git a/Network/Shpider/Options.hs b/Network/Shpider/Options.hs
--- a/Network/Shpider/Options.hs
+++ b/Network/Shpider/Options.hs
@@ -116,3 +116,26 @@
 keepTrack = do
    shpider <- get
    put $ shpider { visited = Just [ ] }
+
+
+-- | Add CURL options to Shpider
+addCurlOpts :: [CurlOption] -> Shpider ()
+addCurlOpts opts = do
+  shpider <- get
+  put $ shpider { curlOpts = opts ++ curlOpts shpider }
+  
+
+-- | Set Shpider's CURL options from scratch
+setCurlOpts :: [CurlOption] -> Shpider ()
+setCurlOpts opts = do
+  shpider <- get
+  put $ shpider { curlOpts = opts}
+  
+
+-- | Set download throttling, so that subsequent calls to 'download'
+-- or 'sendForm' block, making sure at least N micro-seconds pass.
+-- Passing a "Nothing" would disable any throttling.
+setThrottle :: Maybe Int -> Shpider ()
+setThrottle n = do
+  sh <- get
+  put $ sh { downloadThrottle = n}
diff --git a/Network/Shpider/State.hs b/Network/Shpider/State.hs
--- a/Network/Shpider/State.hs
+++ b/Network/Shpider/State.hs
@@ -37,16 +37,14 @@
    where
 
 import Control.Monad.State
-
-import Network.Curl
-
 import Data.Maybe
-
-import Text.HTML.TagSoup.Parsec
-
+import Data.Time
+import Network.Curl
 import Network.Shpider.Forms
 import Network.Shpider.Links
+import Text.HTML.TagSoup.Parsec
 
+
 -- | The shpider state holds all the options for shpider transactions, the current page and all the `CurlOption`s used when calling curl.
 data ShpiderState =
    SS { htmlOnlyDownloads :: Bool
@@ -55,6 +53,10 @@
       , curlOpts :: [ CurlOption ]
       , currentPage :: Page 
       , visited :: Maybe [ String ]
+      , downloadThrottle :: Maybe Int
+      -- ^ Whether to wait at least N micro-seconds between downloads
+      -- or form submissions. Defaults to 'Nothing'.
+      , lastDownloadTime :: Maybe UTCTime
       }
    deriving Show
 
@@ -85,6 +87,8 @@
                    ]
       , currentPage = emptyPage 
       , visited = Nothing 
+      , downloadThrottle = Nothing
+      , lastDownloadTime = Nothing
       }
 
 -- | The Page datatype.  Holds `Link`s, `Form`s, the parsed [ `Tag` ], the page source, and the page's absolute URL.
diff --git a/shpider.cabal b/shpider.cabal
--- a/shpider.cabal
+++ b/shpider.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name:               shpider 
-Version:            0.2
+Version:            0.2.1.1
 Synopsis:           Web automation library in Haskell.
 Description:
     Shpider is a web automation library for Haskell.   It allows you to quickly
@@ -37,11 +37,12 @@
       base < 5
     , regex-posix 
     , curl
-    , tagsoup-parsec 
+    , tagsoup-parsec >= 0.0.8
     , url>=2 
     , containers 
     , tagsoup 
-    , mtl 
+    , mtl
+    , time 
     , bytestring
     , web-encodings
    Exposed-modules: Network.Shpider.URL