This question was put on hold as off-topic at Webmasters, so I'm hoping it's ok to ask here.
I've read up on the (outrageous) costs of becoming, maintaining and operating a registrar, but I cannot find any useful information about the nature of the third-party companies who offer whois privacy or proxy services, how they are set up and function.
When I click the web proxy link on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_privacy, it forwards to a page describing proxies as in the alternative to VPN, there is not one mention of WHOIS.
What does it take to become a provider of a whois proxy or privacy service—-financially, legally, and what hardware is required? I've been a web designer for 15 years, but actually know very little about networking and infrastructure. If this is not the correct SE to ask this is, please let me know. Thanks in advance.