I noticed when using Firefox it pulls down news links automatically even if I have specified that firefox uses a proxy for HTTP/HTTPS/FTP and the proxy server is down. This could leak my IP address so the questions are:

1 - Is RSS a protocol?
2 - If yes to (1) how can I route this protocol through a proxy server. For example currently my browser proxy settings are set as follows:

Firefox <--> Privoxy <--> TOR <--> Internet

I would like to know the answer for Linux and WXP if possible as I am using the same configuration under both systems (Firefox, privoxy/Tor).

TIA...

Further, if other applications have RSS capabilities embeddied, how can I prevent them from accessing the Internet withouth going through my designated proxy server?