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thewayneThe RIAA claims that they can link an IP address to a computer. Your computer is uniquely identified by a MAC address, it's a two-part hexadecimal address burned into your ethernet card. The first part is a code that identifies the manufacturer of the chipset, the second is sort of a serial number and is supposed to be unique to that manufacturer. It's pretty critical that the combination of these two numbers remains unique for networking to work, I won't bother you with the details.
Among the many problems is that IP addresses are frequently assigned dynamically and you might not have the same address every time you boot your computer. But that's not the biggest problem.
It's possible to spoof MAC addresses and configure your computer so that whenever a program asks for your MAC address, it does not return the address burned on the chip but a specific value that you configure.
So if you're going to university, how about getting the MAC address of the school provost. Suddenly the RIAA is subpoenaing the school provost?
Of course, not everyone would be able to use the same address because, like I said before, it needs to remain unique on the network. There's forms of cache poisoning and other techniques that can be used to shut down the other address in order to make your spoofed address work.
This also requires some somewhat involved system level work in linux, so it's not for everyone. But if you're running linux, you're probably skilled enough to do this, so why not have your MAC address change every day?
But there's an easier way.
Go to Fry's Electronics, or wherever, and buy a box of Ethernet cards. PAY CASH, don't use any sort of frequent buyer club bonuses. Make it so they cannot be tracked back to you. Cards go for $10-15 these days, and if you buy a box of 'em, you might get a quantity discount. Replace the card in your PC every couple of months, sell the old card at a swap meet so that it goes back in to circulation and that MAC address appears in other network logs.
I said easy, not free. And obviously this technique wouldn't work on a laptop.
Among the many problems is that IP addresses are frequently assigned dynamically and you might not have the same address every time you boot your computer. But that's not the biggest problem.
It's possible to spoof MAC addresses and configure your computer so that whenever a program asks for your MAC address, it does not return the address burned on the chip but a specific value that you configure.
So if you're going to university, how about getting the MAC address of the school provost. Suddenly the RIAA is subpoenaing the school provost?
Of course, not everyone would be able to use the same address because, like I said before, it needs to remain unique on the network. There's forms of cache poisoning and other techniques that can be used to shut down the other address in order to make your spoofed address work.
This also requires some somewhat involved system level work in linux, so it's not for everyone. But if you're running linux, you're probably skilled enough to do this, so why not have your MAC address change every day?
But there's an easier way.
Go to Fry's Electronics, or wherever, and buy a box of Ethernet cards. PAY CASH, don't use any sort of frequent buyer club bonuses. Make it so they cannot be tracked back to you. Cards go for $10-15 these days, and if you buy a box of 'em, you might get a quantity discount. Replace the card in your PC every couple of months, sell the old card at a swap meet so that it goes back in to circulation and that MAC address appears in other network logs.
I said easy, not free. And obviously this technique wouldn't work on a laptop.
