I'm very not familiar with the IP stuff, so I'm sorry if my question sounds so silly.
You said tha ...
Sorry I never saw your comment until now.
When I was only looking around, commenting, etc., I used to use TOR. When I wanted to download, I use a regular browser and used other methods to mask my IP address.
I found that firefox has a couple of different plugin options for hiding/changing your ip address ... I just installed one ... thank you for posting this topic.... very important... i only wish i had been using it sooner.