I'm sure there are a dozen ways to do this in QT or in python that don't require a full fledged apache or lighthttpd implementation. This kind of code is a common thing to do...look at desktop apps like bittorrent clients and music servers that have built-in web servers for remote access.

Kudos to this author for coming up with something creative like this. I think the need to find your ip address makes this kind of thing a little more difficult to use for many people, but it is an example of the kind of thing that is possible on an open and accessible platform. File upload/download is just the tip of the iceberg of what you could do with this kind of setup. Just about anything the phone can do (initiate calls, access address book, send/recieve sms, camera and sensor access) is possible through a wifi/webserver setup.