Why Use a Proxy, or the Tales of a Proxateer, by AnonyMouse
A proxy server relays data between you (the user) and applications servers on the internet. When you use a proxy and request, for example, the Yahoo! webpage, your browser actually sends your request to the proxy and not to Yahoo!. It is the proxy and not some Yahoo! computer that sends you the Yahoo! webpage. By acting as a messenger and go-between, public proxy servers provide important services for all internet surfers. Their uses are as varied as are the proxies themselves. According to StatMarket at http://www.statmarket.com/SMHT?c=Proxies , around 16% of internet surfers already use proxies and the percentage seems to be growing. Why should you be interested in using proxies?
1. speed
Keeping a web page on one server in Tokyo is like having only one copy of a movie at a theater in Hollywood and requiring everyone who wanted to see it to travel there and stand in line until they could get into a showing. The traffic jams would be awful, people interested in the movie would suffer enormous inconvenience and wasted time waiting, many would find the hassle too great and never try to see it, etc. Instead, almost every community world-wide has some sort of theater where new releases can be viewed and other movies are available on videotapes at local video stores. Similiarly, many proxy servers "cache" requested web pages locally so that web surfers can visit websites stored on computers in their own area, making for faster connection times for users. Service providers also win when proxies are used since cacheing conserves bandwidth thereby reducing operating costs, while reduced global network utilization reduces infrastructure capital costs as well. Additional information on cacheing is available from Cache Now! at http://vancouver-webpages.com/CacheNow/ .
2. privacy
Virtually everything you do on the internet is recorded in logs. In the identifying "http headers" that are passed to sites you visit, several identify your internet address (IP), what kind of software you're using, the page you've just come from, and lots more besides. When you request a webpage through a proxy, it is the proxy which contacts the webpage, so it is the proxy's identity which is recorded by the webpage's logs. Proxies which are called "non-anonymous" may pass on information about your identity in some headers (HTTP_VIA, HTTP_FORWARDED, HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR), but _all_ proxies substitute their identity for your's in the crucial REMOTE_HOST and REMOTE_ADDR headers. According to one estimate, over 90% of web servers completely ignore the HTTP_VIA, HTTP_FORWARDED, and HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR headers. In the few cases where they are logged, an "anonymous" proxy can be counted on to conceal your identity in those headers as well. A few proxies, most notably the Junkbusters and CGIProxies, can block or fake information contained in the HTTP_USER_AGENT and HTTP_REFERER, too. Some proxies, most notably DeleGates and CGIProxies, can be "chained" together so that several proxies seperate you from the webpage, allowing even better protection of your privacy.
3. freedom
Censors come in various ideological flavours and creep up all over the globe, from the United Arab Emirates to Australia. Some are concerned about pictures of naked people, others oppose any political and religious views contrary to their own, many feel threatened by a free press, Hollywood movies, or "cultural pollution". Increasingly they try to control the internet by blocking access to "undesirable sites". Proxy servers, among other tools, can often be used to get around such restrictions. Even if certain proxies or ports are blocked, others can be found which the censors have overlooked. Even if _all_ of the proxies listed here are blocked, there are tools available and techniques described here and other places around the internet that will enable surfers to find proxies that _are_ useable. If one person living under a censorous regime can get one copy of such software or a description of such techniques, then the censor's wall is mere tissue paper.
4. control
In 1999 it is estimated that globally over $500,000,000,000 in revenues will be generated from online-related goods and services. Having that much money at stake has formed the character of the internet. Almost every webpage features one or more banners, pop-up ads abound, and it's a rare search engine that doesn't turn up porn sites in the top 20 hits for any popular search keyword. Many proxies filter out this obnoxiousness. Junkbuster and AdEater proxies stop ads from loading. Bess proxies block porn sites and sites that feature hate speech. Some CGIProxies block all images, cookies, and more. If you _like_ to see ads, spammed porn, and racist rants and you don't mind that your pages load slower while you search for a recipe for apple pie, don't use these proxies, but if you don't like any or all of those things, these proxies allow you to "have it your way" as you surf.
5. protection
A proxy server can be associated with or be part of a gateway server that seperates a local area network (LAN) from the internet at large. That gateway server can be configured as a "firewall" that protects LAN users from outside intrusions by so-called "hackers". A firewall is an effective barrier against these script kiddies who like to spread virii, trojan horses, and the like. For those not on a LAN or protected by a firewall, simply using a proxy by itself can conceal your IP Address, operating system, etc. making you much harder to target by malicious attackers.
6. access
A very small number of proxies can be used to allow easier internet access for the visually impaired, for example ea.ethz.ch:8080 . Others translate webpages into languages more accessable for potential users, especially those with limited English skills, such as mte.inteli.net.mx:3128, which translates webpages into Spanish, and zip-translator.dna.affrc.go.jp:30001, which translates webpages into Japanese.
Get the idea? Proxies can make the internet more accessable _and_ more efficient, thwart censors _and_ permit more individual control, provide protection _and_ enhance privacy. And this is hardly an exhaustive list of all the things they can do. Work with them, explore many of the ones listed on this site, find others yourself, and you'll be suprised at how many other uses you find. Enjoy!
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A special footnote: What proxies _can't_ do: Some believe that using proxies means that they can avoid detection when engaging in fraud, malicious "hacking", etc. Don't be fooled; proxies keep records, too, and almost all of them will happily give the police and others evidence of what you do in such cases. Often not even a subpoena is required, but no proxy can continue operating if it refuses to turn over logs which have been subpoenaed. If you want to engage in criminal activities, go ahead and turn yourself over to your local police and save everybody some time, because no proxy sysadmin is going to protect you. Many haven't believed that and they've suffered the consequences. Many who will tell you differently work for the police themselves, so don't tell me you weren't warned.