“Renesys”, a company that analyzes and studies network connections and their locations have reported that the creation of proxy servers around the world and their use by Iranians has been slowing down lately. The government is catching on; the use of these proxies and their advertising is so public that the government has no problem blocking their citizens from using them. Although the government is finally becoming aware of these proxies, it truly is a global effort to produce them and allow their users anonymous and secure browsing.

Almost two thousand proxies have been created and shared by users all around the globe. Old proxies are being found by the Iranian government and blocked, and by identifying key characteristics of proxies, they are able to identify and shut down new ones just as quickly. This active oppression of its citizens blocks their political struggle and any other injustices from the rest of the world. This just shows how important it is for people in free countries to create proxies for the less fortunate to use.

Renesys explains how proxies function: They are a piece of software you install or a website you visit. Either one protects your identity and allows you uncensored Internet access. The website or computer you are going to acts as a middle-man in the website to computer exchange. The website or software changes your IP address, which acts as a nametag for your computer, to something different, and therefore, stops you from being tracked. When you go through a proxy server, the proxy goes and gets the website you requested, and brings it you. The proxy doesn’t know anyone is behind the scenes pulling the strings either. In fact, if someone were to access your browsing history, all they would see is the name of the proxy site over and over again.

Some believe that a proxy server is the cure-all solution to internet privacy problems. If it is used correctly, and the proxy is a reliable one, then this is a true statement. Oftentimes though, if a criminal proxy is selected, this can be the end of your internet anonymity.

Internet crime has skyrocketed. The ability to commit crimes on the web is a much safer alternative than actually breaking into someone’s house and stealing. This way, the criminal can’t be caught at the crime scene; he is countries away!

The ability to commit crime and steal people’s information on the Internet is simple. For example, viewing somebody’s public FaceBook or Myspace profile is bound to net you all sorts of useful information about them; location, pictures, affiliations, school, etc. It’ll just be a short time before their Social Security Number is posted on their profile for everyone to swoon over and leave comments on.

The point is, the Internet makes it way to easy for criminals. Most of your surfing is done with simple HTTP requests, which is completely readable; not encrypted whatsoever. If they can’t get you this way, they turn to their next cultural meme for advice: “If you build it, they will come.” If they start a proxy server, millions of surfers will flock in to seek anonymity while browsing the web.

That was a critical mistake. Instead of hiding their information, they pretty much left it on the hacker’s doorstep, tied in a pretty bow. The owner of a proxy can see all of the sensitive information that flows through it, and if the owner is an identity thief…. You get the idea.

You know the old saying “nothing in this world is free”? Well, that could be altered to be a bit more accurate: “nothing GOOD in this world is free”. There are free proxy servers out there, but unless you want to be the next true story in an identity theft article, you should just pay the minimal monthly fee and get the security of a true elite anonymous proxy.

Some may raise some eyebrows when “anonymous surfing” is brought up. Why remain anonymous unless you’ve got something to hide? Well, maybe not the same stuff they are thinking of, but I sure wouldn’t want to propagate my bank account information to every Google user!

The Internet is a great and very helpful place, but we don’t have to sacrifice our right to privacy when using it. Some ISPs store all of your information for up to 2 years! Some government agencies in the UK store all of the information in a large database forever.

Maybe having an ISP know what you are doing is not a big deal, but it is the principle of the matter. Imagine if someone hacked the server; all information, every website, password, social security number ever entered in the last two years would be at their fingertips! A bit scary when it is laid out before you.

American’s military is the glue that holds the nation together. National security is on every U.S. citizens’ mind, and this is only magnified in these turbulent times. These freedom fighters would give everything to help their country, and do so every day.

Though they may seem almost inhuman with their selflessness, these are just ordinary people. They love family, freedom, and happiness just as much as anyone else. While traveling or being stationed internationally, some military members can get homesick. This is perfectly normal, and happens to some when leaving on a leisurely vacation. Imagine the anguish of having to leave your country, and go off to some faraway land to fight!

Watching some familiar American T.V. is a great way to stay in touch with old Uncle Sam. Unfortunately, a man can‘t exist on “I Love Lucy” alone, and must supplement their viewing diet.

Internet T.V. to the rescue! Imagine the joy of a lonely soldier when he or she could access an entire cultural reservoir of familiarity. They could just catch up on the affairs back home, or maybe just see who J-Lo is marrying this week. Alas, it was too good to be true.

The Chinese government won’t budge on their resolution that all computers to be sold in China will contain censoring software. In fact, it seems they are going even further! They are thinking about recruiting some 10,000 people to be Internet monitors; find bad sites and report them.

The plan was offered up for discussion on Tuesday. This goal is to create a system that can “purify society.”

They are definitely on the offensive. One group, the China Illegal Internet Information Reporting Center, has been seeking out sites and warning them to take down their offensive content. They are afraid of no one, even going after the Chinese Google for hosting vulgar images and sexual content!

China has always had a history of interfering with people’s freedom rights by censoring and blocking content deemed inappropriate, or harmful to their Communist party. Internet-savvy citizens can easily get around these blocks through a myriad of ways, but this new computer installation software could prevent them from doing so any longer, and they are up in arms.

In Beijing, a 21-year old girl stabbed and killed an official of the Communist Party as he tried to force himself upon her. Normally this story would have stayed low and local, and the girl would have been charged with manslaughter in a discreet case, but the Internet has changed all of that.

When the story got posted online that the girl was going to be charged on a count of manslaughter, outrage among the public broke out. The Internet community was so against this decision that, to quell the e-riot, Chinese officials had to censor and ban vehement online comments.

Under intense public pressure, the court exonerated the girl of any manslaughter charges and declared her free to go. The Internet is a medium to tell the plight of forgotten mistreated and not allow them to be pigeonholed, and this is a prime example of this truth. The courts wanted to put this girl away because it was a Communist official, but the people would allow none of that injustice. Bob Dylan was right, the times are a’ changing.

Privacy Gourmet is a useful Internet site that deals with a key issue of today’s Internet users: Getting and remaining anonymous and safe online.

Arranged in an easy-to-navigate post-by-post format, the site is quite user-friendly. The most recent posts are at the top, while older posts get closer to the bottom of the page, and once the page ends, there is a button that allows you to access even older posts.

It could get tedious clicking back over and over again to get to the older posts, but luckily there is a handy “Archives” function that sorts all posts by year and month.

If you are simply looking for information on a particular subject, and don’t know the date of the post, there is a “Categories” function. Each post is classified before it is uploaded, and then sorted into the specific category.

If you want to surf securely and remain anonymous on the Internet, a private proxy is the best way to do so. There are a couple important things to keep in mind about proxies though. Having a better understanding of Internet security in general will better prepare you to select the right proxy.

First of all, there are free proxies. “Free” is a bit of a subjective term here. In the eyes of most, “free” means no money needs to be shelled out. This is true of a free proxy. Keep in mind though, that you pay in attention. There are ads all over sites, and the proxy makes money by you clicking on them.

Web proxies are the most common type of proxy on the Internet. They cloak your IP address and allow you to remain anonymous on the web. They can also bypass firewalls and other virtual blockades by masking the sites you are visiting, and just having it appear that you are visiting their site.

The Internet is probably the quintessential reason this day and age is called “the information society”. Everything is right at our fingertips, and is so easy to access. Instead of spending hours researching in a library for your research paper, you could simply do a Google search and find endless pages of information. Instead of drudging between houses during a yard sale, one can head to Ebay and find bargains and deals galore.

Infatuated with this great new invention, no one stopped to worry about the dangers it could present. Internet crime began to rise. People panicked, and with only rudimentary knowledge, didn’t know how to protect themselves. Some just gave in, and assume you had to be a genius to stay safe and anonymous on while surfing the web.

Where there is strife, there is demand for some benefactor to come along and rescue the oppressed. This hero turned out to be something intangible, but nonetheless, effective.

When George Orwell penned his novel 1984, he predicted that personal privacy and freedoms would be idyllic notions of the past. Some thought the story was just a outrageous tale spun to entertain the paranoid of his era, but some of its ideas are being manifested; just about 25 years later.

In the UK, there are government CC cameras around seemingly every corner, and here in the U.S., we have our beloved Patriot Act. These acts seem to keep chipping away at our rights: unreasonable search and seizures are not permitted.

Some people do not care about this freedom; “why is it a problem if you’ve got nothing to hide?” That’s not the point: these freedoms are inherited upon birth and are now being infringed at a rapid rate. States are beginning to plan actions that will effectively ban anonymous proxy servers, which allow you to remain anonymous online.