On Fri, 20 Aug 1993, Skye Merlin Poier wrote:
Obviously you have not used IRC much... I think this idea would be exceptionally bad. On IRC, for those that have not used it, there are channel operators (chops) on each channel. They have the power to kick and ban people from the channel, if they are being abusive or exremely irritating (eg flooding everyone) . By removing the client information, you remove the efficiency of a ban (usu it applys the the person's userid from any machine on the same domain)... This would make it very easy for one person in a bad mood to ruin a channel for everyone. And believe me, there are usually serveral people of that kind on the net.
Perhaps you could set up your own IRC net (similar to the undernet) and have it anonymous, but I would highly recommend against trying this on the standard IRC net.
Actually I have used IRC for quite some time. I have also noticed that most of the time there is not much of a problem in "annoying" people. Also the power of the Operator is much in question when it comes to banning people, as to how easy it is to overcome being "banned" from a channel. You make the example of how anyone in a "bad mood" can ruin the channel for everyone. This is something you have to deal with. Ask people running Anonymous Remailers, and Anonymous Posting Services. I did not intend to connect this up with the "Normal IRC Network". That would be a little rude on my part. Allowing people to become anonymous only on my server. Also I would suspect most other people who run servers would not let mine conenct to theirs. I am not trying to start up a server to be in competition with the "Normal IRC Network". I want an alternative for people who wish to talk, but don't wish their identity known. -Matt (panzer@drown.slip.andrew.cmu.edu)