BT drops out of IRC

Community Spirit

By John Leyden • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 2nd July 2001 20:50 GMT

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BTinternet is to pull the plug on its IRC server on Wednesday (July 4).

Fewer than 100 users use the server that BTinternet has set aside for IRC (Internet Relay Chat) discussions, according to a BT spokesman, who said the ISP's subscribers could still use the protocol to connect to IRC servers run by other ISPs.

IRC is a non-profit, non-commercial, text-oriented chat environment, which is run by volunteers and is kept alive with donated hardware and bandwidth.

BT's decision to stop contributing to the IRC community has been criticised by a Register reader who helped set up BTinternet.

"The BTnet service has come under new management and is embarking on a course of shutting down all 'non-revenue' services," our correspondent told us. "New management, of course, knows nothing of the Internet spirit of co-operation."

"The BTnet IRC service has been running for five years but is a free service and so has to go, regardless of the fact that it costs almost nothing to run," he added. ®

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