Music Wars: scene 10
In which the Rebel Music Pirates recieve a Distant Early Warning

Does the RIAA have your IP? Are you going to be one of those you feel the wrath of the RIAA? The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), can let you now

A new Web-based tool provided by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) gives file swappers the ability to check their home IP address or file sharing service user name against a list of addresses and names disclosed in hundreds of subpoena filed by the RIAA to ISPs (Internet service providers). (See http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/riaasubpoenas/)

The tool consists of a Web page with a field into which visitors can type a user name from file sharing services such as Kazaa and Grokster, or the IP address of a system used to swap files.

Myself is not on the list. Yet.

Music Wars: Scene 9
In which a US Senator attempts to reign in the Empire RIAA, and the Rebels attempt to evade detection

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., is concerned that the RIAA may be suing Grandma:

Coleman, chairman of the Senate's Permanent Investigations Subcommittee, asked the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for details of 900 subpoenas it has obtained in federal courts. In a letter, he expressed concern that innocent people's rights may be violated in the industry's attempt to rein in what it contends is rampant on-line piracy costing recording companies billions of dollars.

snip..

The RIAA subpoenas have snared unsuspecting grandparents whose grandchildren have used their personal computers [and] individuals whose roommates have shared their computers . . ., " Coleman wrote. "This barrage of RIAA subpoenas is creating such a backlog at the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia that the court has been forced to reassign clerks to process the paperwork.

"Surely it was not Congress' intent when it passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to short-circuit due process protections, relegate a U.S. District Court to providing 'rubber-stamp' subpoenas, enable the music industry to collect information about consumers with little or no restrictions, and place numerous average consumers at risk of bankruptcy," he said.

Although this will not end the war, at least someone of influence can see that the RIAA's crusade has the potential to target innocents.Myself suspects he has children in the 13-25 age bracket.
In a related story the Rebel Music Pirates are attempting to mask their identity or at the very least make it difficult for the Empire to find them:

Some of the upgrades reroute Internet connections through so-called proxy servers that scrub away cybertracks. Others incorporate firewalls or encryption to thwart the sleuth firms that the recording industry employs.

"Everyone is concerned about their privacy," said Michael Weiss, chief executive of StreamCast Networks. The upgrade to his Morpheus file-sharing software has been downloaded more than 300,000 times since its release late last month.

Music industry officials insist file-swappers can't hide.

"Nothing that has been invented has prevented us from being able to identify substantial infringers and collect evidence," said Matt Oppenheim, senior vice president of business and legal affairs for the Recording Industry Association of America.

Yet experts say some of the countermeasures could make it more difficult to trace individuals on peer-to-peer networks. Though none can guarantee total anonymity, they ultimately may not have to.

"With enough technology it may not be worth the effort for the RIAA to come after somebody," said Mark Rasch, a former U.S. Justice Department computer crimes prosecutor. "At some point, it can become so difficult to find out who did something that it becomes practically anonymous."

The RIAA says they can still find you, the rebels say they can't, Myself is more likely to beleive the rebels although that may be more of a projection of my point of view than actual logical reasoning.

What the Hell?

From MSNBC This article trumpets a new breed of male: the metrosexual

So what makes a metrosexual man? He's been defined as a straight, sensitive, well-educated, urban dweller who is in touch with his feminine side. He may have a standing appointment for a weekly manicure, and he probably has his hair cared for by a stylist rather than a barber. He loves to shop, he may wear jewelry, and his bathroom counter is most likely filled with male-targeted grooming products, including moisturizers (and perhaps even a little makeup). He may work on his physique at a fitness club (not a gym) and his appearance probably gets him lots of attention -- and he's delighted by every stare.

Cmon now the only moisturizer a straight man uses is KY jelly, ya know what I mean? So a metrosexual is essentially a gay-acting straight man? This is such ablolute bullshit as to have an actual smell coming from my monitor. Only a gay man does more than any two of these things. Myself owns up to six of these,(not telling which), my boyfriend all but two or three, so you can see where Myself is going with this. Any man who can catagorize himself as metrosexual (although Myself doubts that any man would actually admit to being this), has gay tendencies, no other way around it. Myself thinks this is all about what Myself has heard of as the pussy-fication of the American man. A (I can barely bring Myself to keep using the term) metrosexual is exactly the kind of man that an Oprah/Sex in the City-watching woman seem to want, which in Myself's view of the world rule #6 most men are not. I will give this crap creedence when Myself sees Howard Stern cry on the air because Robin makes fun of him.