diff --git a/includes/common.inc b/includes/common.inc
index d86009b..e5efe6d 100644
--- a/includes/common.inc
+++ b/includes/common.inc
@@ -416,6 +416,10 @@ function drupal_access_denied() {
 function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data = NULL, $retry = 3) {
   $result = new stdClass();
 
+  //PROXYHACK
+  $proxy_not_required = TRUE;
+  ///PROXYHACK
+
   // Parse the URL and make sure we can handle the schema.
   $uri = parse_url($url);
 
@@ -433,7 +437,19 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data =
     case 'http':
       $port = isset($uri['port']) ? $uri['port'] : 80;
       $host = $uri['host'] . ($port != 80 ? ':'. $port : '');
+      //PROXYHACK
+      $proxy_not_required = is_in_no_proxy_list($uri['host']);
+      if ((variable_get('proxy_server', '') != '') && (FALSE == $proxy_not_required)) {
+        $proxy_server = variable_get('proxy_server', '');
+        $proxy_port = variable_get('proxy_port', 8080);
+        $fp = @fsockopen($proxy_server, $proxy_port, $errno, $errstr, 15);
+      }
+      else {
+      ///PROXYHACK
       $fp = @fsockopen($uri['host'], $port, $errno, $errstr, 15);
+      //PROXYHACK
+      }
+      ///PROXYHACK
       break;
     case 'https':
       // Note: Only works for PHP 4.3 compiled with OpenSSL.
@@ -463,10 +479,19 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data =
   }
 
   // Construct the path to act on.
+  //PROXYHACK
+  if ((variable_get('proxy_server', '') != '') && (FALSE == $proxy_not_required)) {
+    $path = $url;
+  }
+  else {
+  ///PROXYHACK
   $path = isset($uri['path']) ? $uri['path'] : '/';
   if (isset($uri['query'])) {
     $path .= '?'. $uri['query'];
   }
+  //PROXYHACK
+  }
+  ///PROXYHACK
 
   // Create HTTP request.
   $defaults = array(
@@ -483,6 +508,15 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data =
     $defaults['Authorization'] = 'Authorization: Basic '. base64_encode($uri['user'] . (!empty($uri['pass']) ? ":". $uri['pass'] : ''));
   }
 
+  //PROXYHACK
+  if ((variable_get('proxy_username', '') != '') && (FALSE == $proxy_not_required)) {
+    $username = variable_get('proxy_username', '');
+    $password = variable_get('proxy_password', '');
+    $auth_string = base64_encode($username . ($password != '' ? ':'. $password : ''));
+    $defaults['Proxy-Authorization'] = 'Proxy-Authorization: Basic '. $auth_string ."\r\n";
+  }
+  ///PROXYHACK
+
   foreach ($headers as $header => $value) {
     $defaults[$header] = $header .': '. $value;
   }
@@ -559,6 +593,26 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data =
   $result->code = $code;
   return $result;
 }
+
+//PROXY_HACK
+function is_in_no_proxy_list($host) {
+  $rv = FALSE;
+
+  $proxy_exceptions = variable_get('proxy_exceptions', '');
+  if (FALSE == empty($proxy_exceptions)) {
+    $patterns = explode(",",$proxy_exceptions);
+    foreach ($patterns as $pattern) {
+      $pattern = trim($pattern, " ");
+      if (strstr($host,$pattern)) {
+        $rv = TRUE;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return $rv;
+}
+///PROXY_HACK
+
 /**
  * @} End of "HTTP handling".
  */
diff --git a/modules/system/system.admin.inc b/modules/system/system.admin.inc
index 8524efd..c4910e0 100644
--- a/modules/system/system.admin.inc
+++ b/modules/system/system.admin.inc
@@ -1362,6 +1362,79 @@ function system_clear_cache_submit(&$form_state, $form) {
   drupal_set_message(t('Caches cleared.'));
 }
 
+//PROXYHACK
+/**
+ * Form builder; Configure the site proxy settings.
+ *
+ * @ingroup forms
+ * @see system_settings_form()
+ */
+function system_proxy_settings() {
+
+  $form['forward_proxy'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'fieldset',
+    '#title' => t('Forward Proxy Settings'),
+    '#description' => t('The proxy server used when Drupal needs to connect to other sites on the Internet.'),
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_server'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('Proxy host name'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_server', ''),
+    '#description' => t('The host name of the proxy server, eg. localhost. If this is empty Drupal will connect directly to the internet.')
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_port'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('Proxy port number'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_port', 8080),
+    '#description' => t('The port number of the proxy server, eg. 8080'),
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_username'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('Proxy username'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_username', ''),
+    '#description' => t('The username used to authenticate with the proxy server.'),
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_password'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('Proxy password'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_password', ''),
+    '#description' => t('The password used to connect to the proxy server. This is kept as plain text.', '')
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_exceptions'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('No proxy for'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_exceptions', 'localhost'),
+    '#description' => t('Example: .example.com,localhost,192.168.1.2', '')
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_skip_selftest'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'checkbox',
+    '#title' => t('Skip HTTP self test'),
+    '#description' => t('Skip HTTP request self test.'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_skip_selftest', '0'),
+  );
+  $form['#validate'][] = 'system_proxy_settings_validate';
+
+  return system_settings_form($form);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Validate the submitted proxy form.
+ */
+function system_proxy_settings_validate($form, &$form_state) {
+  // Validate the proxy settings
+  $form_state['values']['proxy_server'] = trim($form_state['values']['proxy_server']);
+  if ($form_state['values']['proxy_server'] != '') {
+    // TCP allows the port to be between 0 and 65536 inclusive
+    if (!is_numeric($form_state['values']['proxy_port'])) {
+      form_set_error('proxy_port', t('The proxy port is invalid. It must be a number between 0 and 65535.'));
+    }
+    elseif ($form_state['values']['proxy_port'] < 0 || $form_state['values']['proxy_port'] >= 65536) {
+      form_set_error('proxy_port', t('The proxy port is invalid. It must be between 0 and 65535.'));
+    }
+  }
+}
+///PROXY_HACK
+
 /**
  * Form builder; Configure the site file handling.
  *
diff --git a/modules/system/system.module b/modules/system/system.module
index 4e8619f..5c71258 100644
--- a/modules/system/system.module
+++ b/modules/system/system.module
@@ -317,6 +317,16 @@ function system_menu() {
     'access arguments' => array('administer site configuration'),
     'file' => 'system.admin.inc',
   );
+  //PROXYHACK
+  $items['admin/settings/proxy'] = array(
+    'title' => 'Proxy Server',
+    'description' => 'Configure settings when the site is behind a proxy server.',
+    'page callback' => 'drupal_get_form',
+    'page arguments' => array('system_proxy_settings'),
+    'access arguments' => array('administer site configuration'),
+    'file' => 'system.admin.inc',
+  );
+  ///PROXY_HACK
   $items['admin/build/modules/list'] = array(
     'title' => 'List',
     'type' => MENU_DEFAULT_LOCAL_TASK,