EZproxy is a web proxy server used by libraries to give access from outside the library's computer network to restricted-access websites that authenticate users by IP address.
The software was originally written by Chris Zagar in 1999 who founded Useful Utilities LLC to support it.
OCLC announced in January 2008 that it had acquired the product and was hiring Zagar as a full-time consultant for a year.
"[4] Previous proxy solutions were complex and difficult to maintain, and when EZproxy was created, authentication systems like Shibboleth were still far in the future.
[citation needed] The software has been purchased by more than thousands of institutions in over 100 countries.