Navigation
Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict Valid CSS Level 3
The AlphaChat IRC Network
The first name in chat

AlphaChat IRC Network Acceptable Usage Policy (Last Updated: Monday, 10th July, 2017)

Effective date of the commencement of this AUP: Monday, 10th July, 2017, 00:00:01 UTC


All users of the network are bound by this policy, and they implicitly agree to abide by it upon their connection to the network.

Penalties for violations of these provisions range from a simple /kill to a frozen services account and varying-duration network-wide bans (K-Lines). Please report any violations of the AUP to a staff member, in #abuse. They will be the users with voice (+v).

  1. Network Usage

    1. The use of this network is a privilege, not a right. Staff reserve the right to take this privilege away from you at any time.

    2. Evading a network-wide ban (K-Line) will only result in more, wider bans of a longer duration being set. There are no exceptions.

      Persistent violations will likely prompt the submission of abuse reports to your Internet Service Provider.

    3. Unless you have a clones exemption, you are only permitted to make up to 5 simultaneous connections to the network. Services will warn you when you make the 5th connection. You will be automatically K-Lined (for an hour) by services if you exceed this limit. If you require more connections than this (for example, if you run an IRC bouncer), please contact a staff member to request a clones exemption. We will need the following information in processing your request:

      • All of the IP addresses you will be connecting from (IPv4 and IPv6 as appropriate).
      • The expected average and peak number of connections.
      • A contact E-mail address.

        Abuse reports will be sent here, and the bouncer may be K-Lined if they are not acted upon within a reasonable time frame. Thus, it is highly recommended that your bouncer runs an identd that reports some unique identifier for each user, and that the users cannot change. This enables us to K-Line only that user, rather than the entire bouncer.

      An exemption will not be added without all of this information.

    4. Bots are permitted provided that they are not malicious and that they are not drones (members of a botnet).

      However, please do not join any bots to #abuse, #help or #lobby. They may be kicked if you do, and banned if they rejoin.

    5. Flooding the network and its channels with spambots is prohibited and the bots will be added to DroneBL.

    6. Flooding users (in a private query) and channels automatically generates a flood notice to network staff; if the recipient complains of spam, or particularly if more than one user is flooded, the source may be disconnected from the network.

    7. Absolutely no distribution of child pornography, warez, etc is permitted anywhere on the network.

      You will be banned from the network forever and have your account frozen.

  2. Channel Usage

    1. Evading a channel ban-like mode (+b, +q) on any channel is strictly forbidden. The penalty for this is at least a 1-day ban from the entire network.

      Persistent violations will incur longer subsequent bans. There are no exceptions.

    2. As the founder of a channel, you decide its rules and regulations. We exist to help you enforce them.

      Channels are completely autonomous, separate entities from the network and its staff; as long as this AUP is not violated.

      Put simply, this means we will never intefere in how your channel is run, or decide who is or is not permitted to be in it. However, we do retain the right to decide who is allowed to be connected to the network as a whole, so that some subsections of Section 1, and Section 2.1 above, can be enforced.

  3. Services Usage

    1. If you give the +F access flag (full foundership access) to someone else, and then they in turn remove you as a channel founder, we will do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT IT. THIS CANNOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH! By giving someone the +F access flag, you are effectively GIVING YOUR CHANNEL AWAY!

      We WILL NOT intervene if it is then taken from you      , because they are then a legitimate founder of the channel, and Sections 2.2 & 4.4 come into effect.

      This is why /CS FLAGS #channel account|!group +* does not give the +F flag! You must use +*F for that.

    2. You are only permitted to make 1 valid vHost request every 24 hours. Subsequent requests will be automatically rejected.

    3. Requesting a vHost that could be a real domain name (part of the Mozilla Public Suffix List) will require you to prove control of the user-part of the domain. For example, if you wish to request a vHost of foo.bar.example.com, you will be required to prove that you have control over the DNS records for example.com. This proof can be automated (when your vHost request is automatically rejected, you will receive instructions on how to proceed), but if you wish you can also prove control manually. The only accepted method of proof is the creation of a DNS TXT record. If you prove control manually, you must join #help, and the record must contain:

      • The name of this IRC Network ("AlphaChat")
      • The name of your IRC Services Account in /whois you
      • The date upon which the request was made, in YYYY-MM-DD format

    4. Requesting or taking a vHost to evade a channel ban-like mode (+b, +q) will result in, in addition to the K-Line described in Section 2.1, a frozen services account.

      The duration of the freeze is at the discretion of network staff, and will be based upon the seriousness of your offences and your attitude. You will be unable to use the account while it is frozen, and frozen accounts do not expire.

      Having a frozen services account will also lock you out of the Tor hidden service.

    5. Services accounts and channels are registered on a first-come, first-served basis.

  4. Interaction With Staff

    1. We are not your slaves, we are volunteers; you have no right to demand anything of us, and we have no obligation to comply.

    2. Asking to become a staff member will get you nowhere. We elect staff members at our own discretion, based upon need.

    3. When people register a services account, they must provide a valid E-mail address. This E-mail address is hidden from other users by default, and staff will not (intentionally) disclose it to anyone except another staff member, so don't ask for it.

    4. We will not interfere in the affairs of legitimately registered and operated channels.

      See also: Section 2.2. This includes, but is not limited to:

      • Kicking people from the channel.
      • Transferring the channel to someone else.
      • Changing the channel topic, access list, or settings; except the HOLD setting if requested by a channel founder.
      • Setting and unsetting modes (including bans and quiets); except the +L and +P modes if requested by a channel founder.

      There are no other exceptions. Anyone asking us to do otherwise will be ignored.
Copyright © AlphaChat IRC Network, 2014-2021.
All website content available under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license unless otherwise indicated.