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.

Although the U.S.A. had a large amount of proxies running from it due to its widespread democracy and freedom, many other countries were represented as well. India, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Vietnam, and surprisingly, China, who has the biggest problem with Internet censorship of all! (Ever heard of “The Great Firewall of China?”) In all, there were almost eighty-seven countries running anonymous proxies for less-than-democratic nation’s citizens to enjoy and browse anonymously on. This truly shows that the use and creation of proxies is a world-wide effort, and everyone is involved.

Renesys has some advice for those who wish to help and create an anonymous proxy. First, they say not to wait until “tanks are in the streets” to take action and create one, because governments are most suspicious then and will be searching doggedly to find those trying to evade their security laws. And lastly, research ways to make your proxy not look like a proxy, because oftentimes these governments have a list of characteristics to look for in a proxy, and when they find them they will block it. If your proxy doesn’t exhibit these characteristics however, they will think it is a normal Internet connection and not block or censor you.

If you wish to take the steps to step up a proxy and help a friend overseas, do some research and figure out how to configure it well to make it anonymous, secure, and most of all, remain as a pseudo-proxy. It all comes down to this: if they don’t think you are a proxy server, they won’t block you!

The Iranians today are blogging on FaceBook, sending anti-leader protest on Twitter, and Ahmadinejad is quaking in his boots. He is desperate to shutdown these opposing forces. These Iranians are headstrong; despite recent additions and blocks, their Internet activity has actually increased!

The most popular content on Twitter currently is related to these Iranians. Protests, photos, and imperative blogs have caught the interest of not only the citizens of Iran, but everyone around the world.

In a less-than-democratic nation such as Iran, holding public protests can have dire consequences, so a grassroots system has taken place; these new candidates for office are doing their protests and advertising online. One of these e-candidates is Mir Hussein Moussavi. One account all about him (Moussavi1388) has won over nearly 7000 fans, and meticulous updates and news spearhead the assault on a bad government.

Twitter isn’t the only thing these radical citizens are using to send their message, (Moussavi’s FaceBook page has over 50,000 friends), but Twitter is their main method of advocacy.

Surprisingly, Twitter is completely aware of the vital role it is playing for these rebels, and it completely supports them! Twitter had scheduled maintenance ready to go on Monday, but have decided to re-schedule it, because this is a vital time for protestors to be using their site.

The Twitter channel “StopAhmadi” is one dedicated to writings and people opposed to the embattled leader. They put photos and blogs about Moussavi’s views and theories and keep the public in the know about government wrongdoings.

Another channel called “PersianKiwi” is thwarting any censoring that Iran might instate on Twitter by getting the page via Google. They are blatantly ignoring any censoring that Iran might do, and simply moving to a different page.

While most people on Twitter are just using the site to post peaceful protests and the like, some are aiming for the government’s head. A user known as “DDOSIran” actually organized a “hit” on the government: flood its Internet site with so much traffic that it crashes. After the plan had succeeded, the username was deleted and never heard of again.

As the election began to dawn on Iran’s citizens, government censorship reached new levels of injustice. They blocked text-message services and even the instrumental Twitter for a time, hoping to throw off any more protestors to the current leader.

Some have found a way around these wrongful acts, and a proxy server is the most widely utilized.

Even Americans, who are so separated from the conflict, are helping out. Austin Heap of San Francisco has actually been setting up proxy servers for the Iranians to use, and advertising them on Twitter. At any given time, nearly 750 Iranians are browsing anonymously due to his benevolence.

Many proxy services are on the rise now, due to this massive Iranian censorship. The Global Internet Freedom Consortium, which was run by outlawed and exiled Chinese Falun Gong, has reported almost triple the traffic they would normally have, and most of it coming from Iran.

This censorship has become a silly game of whack-a-mole: the government whacks one thing the people were using, and they have to find another; a vicious cycle.

After a time, there will be no new thing for the people to run to, and the government will be too adept at sniffing these things out to spread any more protest news, or the people’s voice of Mir Hussein Moussavi. This is when the anonymous proxy will truly have its day.

If an American citizen tried to access Twitter, obviously they would be allowed in, as the U.S. is a nation free of censorship and other such blockades. Most of the time, in countries such as Iran, the blocking of these sites is instated by the government. This is where a private proxy would come in. By encrypting the data, they can bypass these blocks.

An anonymous proxy server acts as a middleman in the Internet exchange between the website and the requester. You ask for the website through the anonymous proxy, and they go and get it for you. This covers your tracks as well; if Iran  was to read all logs of your Internet activity, all they would see is the proxy site, visited over and over again.

This successfully completes the anonymous browsing experience. In countries like Iran, visiting certain sites can lead to a jail stint. By using a proxy, there will be no evidence that you ever went on a banned site.

Anonymous browsing, surfing, you name it, is essential for these Iranian protesters. This technology will exonerate them from the and will allow them to fight the good fight, without the risk of being arrested for their protests.