A Slate contributor exposes a virtual wall between American and Japanese music geeks: If you switch your iTunes country setting to Japan, you get a whole different selection of stuff, but can't buy it. The contributor asserts that, aside from the denial of choice itself, a lot of this stuff is actually worth having, from actual Japanese music to Western reissues that otherwise don't make it to America. Consequently, he says, a small contingent of Americans are mining Japanese iTunes using fake Japanese addresses. You don't have to be that much of a nerd to appreciate this—if you've ever browsed or bought music in a foreign country, however little, you've noticed the difference, and maybe wondered what you're missing back in the States.
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