Is IRC All Bad?

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Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday January 20, 2005 @03:26PM from the slashnet-notwithstanding dept.

An anonymous reader writes "IRC is often portrayed by the media as a haven for illegal activity. The author of IRC Hacks set out to find whether or not this was true. His conclusions are quite alarming, suggesting that 99.9% of IRC usage is illegal although he backs up IRC by saying that it is also used for lots of constructive purposes and is used by open source software developers." Update: 01/21 05:17 GMT by P : The author claimed it was merely 99.9% of traffic "to the top 60 channels" that is illegal, not 99.9% of all IRC traffic.

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IRC by irokitt · 2005-01-20 15:29 · Score: 5, Funny

Ah, IRC, where men are men, women are men, and 14-year old girls are FBI agents.

Yeah, I buy 99%, although the last time I logged on it was for help with my Slackware box.

If nothing else, IRC has given us bash.org.

--
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
1. Re:IRC by spac3manspiff · 2005-01-20 15:34 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  14-year old girls are FBI agents.
  
  Not all are sent from the FBI. Some men act like 14-year girls just for help in #windows.
Allow me to quote from bash.org by TheRealSlimShady · 2005-01-20 15:32 · Score: 4, Funny

IRC is just multiplayer notepad...
I'm sorry, but by captnitro · 2005-01-20 15:33 · Score: 5, Funny

Duh?

Most people use IM now, so there's less need for the casual user to read the following:

captnitro: hey whats goin on
ice8229: no fuck that
captnitro: what?
peebles: your mother is a whore, you know it
ice8229: i'm not going to buy a goddamn program just to rip
ice8229: anybody know of an open one?
fisher0: i kno cuz i fuckerd her d00d
captnitro: what the hell is going on here?
adbot: MP3Z MOVIEZ WAREZ BAGELZ go to 62.182.100.10
binaryman: 1000100011110101
captnitro: huh?
binaryman: 1001111010111110
sharky: get out n00b
fisher0: i am not a virgin i so fskced her! in the ears
pornking: anybody want to cyber?
10yearold: yes

Clearly the domain of kings.
Re:Portrayed by the media? by writermike · 2005-01-20 15:43 · Score: 4, Funny

By and large, the media has never heard of IRC.

No kidding. Mention this to someone who has been on the Internet a few times and they're liking to say:

"I recall correctly?"

--
If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
Re:In other news... by a1ok · 2005-01-20 15:51 · Score: 3, Funny

Well if all of Earth is in violation, did you mean Martian law? ;)
It's a sad sad day... by raehl · 2005-01-20 15:58 · Score: 4, Funny

When a nice 44 year old gentleman helping a troubled 14 year old girl regain her self confidence is "illegal".

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paintball
I have a theory by hayden · 2005-01-20 16:06 · Score: 5, Funny

If nothing else, IRC has given us bash.org.
The theory runs that there is no question or statement that can not be answered by either a bash.org quote, a dilbert comic or a penny-arcade comic.

--
Nerd: Derogatory term typically directed at anybody with a lower Slashdot ID than you.
Re:IRC analysis fatally flawed by dasunt · 2005-01-20 17:34 · Score: 4, Funny

i think this persons "study" was just based on how many times someone said something that seemed to be "illegal" or "legal" based on keywords in what they have to say.

Well, with names like #nethack, of course the channel is devoted to illegal activities. ;)
Re:IRC analysis fatally flawed by arose · 2005-01-20 18:02 · Score: 4, Funny

Psst, I know where to get some Debian isos, copyrighted Debian isos, want to download them?

--
Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.