A Proxy IP is a type of IP address designed to handle large amounts of traffic at a single "choke point" to the World Wide Web. Though the individual computers in the network have their own IPs, they are effectively "masked" when the information passes through the proxy server. Since proxies can be configured to block access to certain URLs, they are often used by corporations and schools to block access to websites considered obscene or unproductive. Perhaps the largest proxy system is that in the People's Republic of China, where all internet traffic in the country passes through a proxy server.
So, how does this relate to Conservapedia?
If you run a Checkuser query, and notice that one IP had 50 editors using it, it's probably a proxy server. These people do not necessarily know each other, but could be:
- In close geographical proximity to one another
- Using the same Internet Service Provider (ISP) as one another (AOL originally had one proxy server for its hundreds of thousands of customers)
- Working for the same corporation (with a big company like Microsoft, someone in Seattle and somebody in Shanghai could be using the same IP, because the global network is connected).