However, running this kind of local proxy or a general chaining proxy does require root access. Most systems will not let you create a low-numbered socket unless you are root. So this is not something which people will be able to do from their user accounts.
Normally a URL can specify an alternate port as well (of course). A common one is http://site.org:8080/dir/file.html... This gets around setting up the proxy without a privileged account. The only web browser I'm familiar with (OmniWeb for NeXTSTEP) also allows you to specify the port number for the proxy. I was under the impression that all browsers supported alternate port numbers for proxies since they are commonly used for URLs... Do Mosiac and Netscape allow specifying the port for proxy servers? andrew