David Lucifer
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Crime and punishment on IRC
« on: 2002-08-17 11:55:38 » |
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Up until now the only rule on the IRC server has been "don't piss off the ops". Due to recent discussions here and on #virus (thanks to all participants) I've decided to add one additional rule: Server bans will be reserved for server-level infractions such as hacking, flooding, identity-stealing and server ban evasion. Due to the change in rules, the current server bans have been lifted.
A quick review of crime and punishment in the world of IRC is in order. There are only two possible punishments that can be imposed on a user for alleged transgressions: to be forcibly removed, and to be banned. Both have channel and server versions (which has caused some confusion in the discussions). To be "kicked" is to be forcibly removed from a channel, to be "killed" is to be forcibly removed from the server (i.e. all channels). A ban will prevent the user from rejoining after leaving (voluntarily or otherwise). Both channel bans and server bans can be temporary (for an arbitrary duration) or permanent.
Law and order is the responsibility of the ops (operators) and there are several levels of these. I will list them in order from least powerful to most powerful, where the latter ones have all the abilities of the ones listed before. A channel operator (chanop) has the power to kick someone from the channel. An auto-op (aop) is automatically given op status when they join the channel, and to unban themselves. A super-op (sop) can ban someone from the channel. The founder (usually the creator of the channel) can add and remove users from the channel's sop and aop list. On the server side, an IRCop can kill users and ban them from the server. The IRCadmin (me) can designate other IRCops.
The law of a channel is defined by the ops of the particular channel. So called infractions that will get you kicked or even banned from channel could conceivably be encouraged on another channel. So basically the overarching rule remains the same: don't piss off the ops. Some ops have the ability to undo the actions of another op. If the other op is further up the totem pole, they obviously risk demotion or worse. Dialog amongst channel ops is encouraged. If you are kicked or banned from a channel, don't appeal to the IRCops. On the one hand we can't overrule the action of a channel op unless we are an op in that channel ourselves. On the other hand we will not overrule the action of a channel operator because they have the right and responsibility to run the channel however they choose. If you don't like how a channel is run, you can always create your own channel.
Questions or comments? Once this is finalized, I will make it into a FAQ.
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