[R] download files through secure http (HTTPS)

[bogdan romocea]

Dear useRs,

I'm trying to download some data through the HTTPS protocol. However,
download.file() does not support HTTPS (R 2.0.1 on WinXP):
Error in download.file(https.url, destfile = "test.txt") : 
        unsupported URL scheme

1. Is there any other function/package in R that can work with HTTPS?
2. If not, what would need to happen to make download.file() support
HTTPS? 

Thank you,
b.