Proxy Stopper 1.03
------------------



0.  History
1.  Disclaimer
2.  Platform
3.  Purpose
4.  Installation
5.  Uninstalling
6.  Setting Up
7.  Blocking
8.  Security
9.  Known Problems
10. Related Links
11. Contact



0. History
----------

[v1.03, 13 Mar 1999]
Added drop-down list for HTTP proxy which contains the top 10
anonymous HTTP proxies obtained from Proxys-4-All.

Added "From", "Referer" and "User-Agent" spoofing. Also included a
list of standard user-agents to choose from.


[v1.02, 17 Feb 1999]
More minor code enhancements.


[v1.01, 16 Feb 1999]
Minor code enhancements.


[v1.0,  29 Dec 1998]
Initial release.



1. Disclaimer
-------------
This application is freeware and thus there is no warranty.
Use it at your own risk. Proxy Stopper can be distributed freely only
if all its original files are present and its executable file is
unmodified.



2. Platform
-----------
Windows 95. Windows 98 and NT should also be fine, though they are
not tested.

Any popular graphical web browser should work with the application.



3. Purpose
----------
This application runs as a local proxy server that allows you to
block or modify HTTP requests made by your web browser.

It can be configured to block unwanted URIs (Uniform Resource
Identifier) such as pictures and ads or advertisements, thus speeding
up web page loading.

It also improves privacy and anonymity by allowing you to remove
or spoof "From", "Referer" and "User-Agent" HTTP header fields.


It can be minimized to the system tray.

This multithreaded application works under both direct Internet
connection and connection via HTTP proxy server. It supports
HTTP/1.0 and 1.1 but does not allow persistent connections.



4. Installation
---------------
Unzip the downloaded zip file into any destination directory.
That's all. For convenience, you should create a desktop shortcut
for "Proxy.exe". Proxy Stopper does not modify, copy or create
any file other than its own files. The system registry and the Start
Menu are also not modified.

Always remember to do a virus scan before you run the application
and check that "Proxy.exe" matches the following :

Filename : Proxy.exe
Date     : 3/13/99 7:22 PM
Size     : 64 KB (exact size : 65,024 bytes)

There are 4 other files : Proxy.ini, Proxies.txt, UserAgents.txt
and Readme.txt(this file).



5. Uninstalling
---------------
Simply delete the whole directory where you have unzipped the zip
file.



6. Setting Up
-------------
Open up your web browser and Proxy Stopper.

Go to the manual proxy configuration in your browser options. If
you are unsure about modifying proxy servers manually, you should
not continue.

If you are already using a HTTP proxy server, take note of the proxy
server address and port. Enter the address followed by a colon and
then the port eg. "proxy.isp.com:1234" into the "HTTP Proxy" field
in Proxy Stopper. If you do not enter the port, "8080" is used.
Check "Use HTTP Proxy" in Proxy Stopper. You can also select from
the drop-down list of public anonymous HTTP proxy servers provided.
You can customize the list by manually editing the file
"Proxies.txt".

If you access the Internet directly, uncheck "Use HTTP Proxy" in
Proxy Stopper. However, your anonymity will be greatly lessened.

In your browser's manual proxy configuration, enter "localhost"
or "127.0.0.1" into the HTTP proxy server field only. Enter "8080"
for the port. This port number must match the "Listen Port" field
in Proxy Stopper for which "8080" is the default. These are the
only changes you need to make to your browser.

To start Proxy Stopper, click on the "Start" button. Click on the
same button to stop.



7. Blocking
-----------
You can add or delete any strings to the blocked list. The strings
are case-insensitive. Up to 50 strings can be added. Wildcards are
NOT supported.

For example you come across an advertisement picture with the
following image location (NOT the link location) :

	http://ad.server.com/images/x.gif

To block this, you can add "ad.server.com" to the blocked list.
But it is good to be less specific. "/ad." is a better choice.
Type in "/ad." into the "Blocked List" and click on the "Add"
button to add the string. A list of common strings found in
advertisements' image locations is already provided.

By default, the "Enable blocking" field is checked. It can be
unchecked any time if you want to disable blocking temporarily.

If blocking is enabled, the "Pass HTML" field allows you to pass
HTML web pages even if a blocked string is found in the URI. Files
with the extensions ".htm", ".html", ".shtml", ".asp" and ".txt" are
regarded as HTML files. For example, "http://ad.server.com/x.htm"
will not be blocked even though it contains "/ad", because it is a
HTML file. "Pass HTML" is checked by default.

Blocking images means not loading any images on the web page.
Images here refer to files with the extensions ".gif", ".jpg",
".jpe", ".jpeg", ".jfif", ".png" and ".xbm". Most browsers already
have such an option, but it is often troublesome to access. This
option is very easy to access in Proxy Stopper and it works on the
fly. Default : unchecked.

You can also remove or spoof "From", "Referer" and "User-Agent"
HTTP header fields. To spoof, simply type in whatever you like
into the edit fields. For "User-Agent", you can also select from a
list of standard user-agents. You can customize the list by manually
editing the file "UserAgents.txt". Removing or spoofing "Referer" may
have some side-effects such causing some web page counters to show up
incorrectly. By default, all 3 header fields are removed.



8. Security
-----------
Proxy Stopper only listens on the port specified by the
"Listen Port" field. It only allows local connections to be made
to the port. If any external connection is attempted, a messagebox
warning will appear and Proxy Stopper will close the connection.
There are currently no known security problems caused by the use
of Proxy Stopper.

General Security Note : It is best to disable Java, Javascript,
cookies and any active browser components when surfing the web.



9. Known Problems
-----------------
Proxy Stopper may freeze occasionally when you try to stop or quit
it. This is because Proxy Stopper is trying to terminate any active
connections gracefully and is waiting for the server to respond. You
can either wait for a while or do a "End Task".



10. Related Links
-----------------

Electronic Privacy Information Center
http://epic.org/


Junkbusters
http://www.junkbusters.com/


Proxys-4-All
http://www.bikkel.com/~proxy/

Comments : Visit this great site for free public anonymous proxy
server addresses. Using Proxy Stopper with an anonymous proxy server
greatly enhances anonymity.



11. Contact
-----------
Email any bugs to poisonpunk@geocities.com.

Homepage : http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/5287/

If you visit my homepage with "Referer" removed or spoofed, my
page counter will not increase. You may want to leave "Referer"
unchanged when visiting my homepage so that my counter will
increase.


Copyright (C) 1998, 1999 PKK.