code: public InputStream getAsStream() throws CacheException {
  		InputStream stream = null;
  		try {
  			logger.debug("opening connection...");
  			stream = url.openConnection(proxy != null ? proxy : Proxy.NO_PROXY).getInputStream();
  			if(stream == null) {
  				logger.error("error opening stream");
  			} else {
  				logger.debug("stream opened");
  			}
  		} catch(IOException e) {
  			logger.error("error accessing url '{}'", url);
  			throw new CacheException("error accessing url " + url, e);
  		}
  		return stream;
  	}
docs: Accesses the given URL and returns its contents as a stream.