I agree; currently the only way to not have your IP address reported with query results is to put yourself behind a NAT router. If you do that, Limewire only returns your private IP address (in red) and pirate hunters can't do a thing with it. But I haven't had any luck setting up BrowseGate or WinGate software and a don't really want to spend $89 for a hardware router. (I know the hardware solution works because I was behind one at my last apartment with our DSL line.)

I have no idea what the creators of Limewire were thinking when they designed it to return IP addresses with query results. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Not only does it make you vulnerable to pirate hunters, but also to all the hackers and script kiddies out there. As soon as I connect to Limewire, I get hundreds of sequential port scans hitting my firewall. There is absolutely no reason that the end-user needs to see the IP address of the person they want to download from.

My favorite to this day is the Audiogalaxy Satellite, because it doesn't return IP addresses OR usernames with query results...you never have any idea who you're downloading from or who's sharing what, or even how many users are logged in. I think that's why the RIAA has left AG alone so far, even though it would be incredibly easy to shut AG down if they ever wanted to go after them.