True, however, you're ignoring a few basic facts here.

1) Proxies aren't modifications to the protocol. They simply forward packets to and from appropriate machines and ports. Using a proxy as an attempt to mask your identity is an old trick, and predates gnutella, napster, et al.

2) (and more importantly), If you're using a SOCKS proxy, chances are it's run by your isp, or some other place you have an account. While it would be difficult (and probably illegal) to trace you immediately, you are still traceable. Simply put, if someone sees copyrighted material being shared up through the proxy, and they've gone through the trouble of tracking it that far, they could just as easily register a complaint to the isp that provides access to the proxy machine. They, in turn, would be forced to kill your access to the proxy or face disconnection themselves. If the proxy is being run by your isp, then you're back where you started in the first place.

In short, if you're afraid of the big bad wolf, proxies are the equivalent of a straw house. I'm not sure what the brick house looks like, and I'm not sure it can be built legally and still allow all the piglets inside.

One thing is for certain: there is no privacy on the internet, and there is no annonymity. Anyone who claims otherwise is either trying to fool you or trying to fool themselves, or both. Or they're obtaining that annonymity illegally.

That said, I still think the biggest threat to the gnutella network is from within, rather than from outside the network. How we fix that is up for debate, as always. Maybe the GQ idea isn't the answer.

I still like my original answer of providing lists of shared files so that users can determine for themselves whether or not the folks downloading their material are legitimate contributers to the network. Include connection speed, if you think it's an issue. And mask it behind bogus usernames, proxies, or whatever makes you feel safer.

Just don't pretend that you have any privacy at all. If you're sharing copyrighted material on the net, the only thing that can save you is the law of large numbers.

In the end, all my suggestion does is make it easier to access the information. It's already out there as part of the gnutella search protocol, and anyone who really wants to find it (i.e. people who have a real interest in finding it, for example the big bad record companies or software developers) can get it. All I'm suggesting is that the coders make it available to the rest of us too with an easy to use interface.