My [original post](http://drupal.org/node/84895) languished for years before someone pointed out a possible solution [here](http://drupal.org/node/53705).

The following user-submitted code may be useful in redirecting URLs for the /files directory to the /sites/example.com/files directory. The following code is added to the [drupal_root]/files/.htaccess file. **Note, this directory is not part of the default Drupal distribution and must be added.**