Help for IRC channel operators

Introduction
============

Some people just think they have a right to sociopathic behaviour, yet

equally believe you don't have your own right to not put up with it. So

here is how to deal with it. This is aimed at channel operators, users

we recommend register with Nickserv because it allows you to be given

priviledges that trolls and idiots won't have. Such a priviledge might

be the right to speak in case of an attack!

Channel Operators
=================

How to defend your channel.

You need to prepare as much as possible in advance because when it

happens it is too late, your channel will be flooded and you need to

take drastic action. If you haven't done the following, skip to

"Drastic Action".

I dont have a channel operator
==============================

/join #help

Talk to the IRCOPs, we can sort this out.

Be Prepared
===========

Do you have enough operators? I don't mean +o'ing people, I mean people

registered as operators on the channel?

If you aren't careful the "Moderated" channel keyword will be useless

because anyone who is registered will get autovoice. So, prepare.

/msg chanserv SET XOP ON

This means for any automatic operation you need to tell chanserv. In

order to autovoice or auto-op a user they need to be registered so tell

them to register with nickserv else they only have themselves to blame

if they have a problem.

Auto-Voice
==========

/msg chanserv VOP #channel ADD TheirNickName

Adds a user to the auto-voice list

(to remove VOP, replace ADD with DEL)

Invite-Me
=========

Only AOPs and SOPs can get auto-invite. Its a shame, but there it is.

You identify with Nickserv and then:

/msg chanserv INVITE #channel

This will issue you an invite, and you can join.

Give me the Key
===============

Only AOPs and SOPs can get the key. Its a shame, but there it is. You

identify with Nickserv and then:

/msg chanserv GETKEY #channel

It will tell you the key, and you can use that to join the channel.


Taking Drastic Action
=====================

First, don't panic. Remember you should kick a user and THEN set a

banmask as then they can't see how you have done the ban and work

around it so easily. If the user is changing their nicks and you are

one of those lazy people who uses menus on your IRC client do the

following to set the channel to "moderated":

Setting a channel to "Moderated"
================================

/mode #mychannel +m

This prevents two things:

1. Users that are in channel changing their nicknames.
2. Users without "voice" cannot speak.

To voice users you want to speak do the following:

/mode #mychannel +v TheirNickname

If you want to remove their voice, do the following:

/mode #mychannel -v TheirNickname
Usually this is enough to contain a problem. But it doesn't stop people

joining with obscene nicknames. To deal with that you have a choice.

You can either set a secret key which all regular users will be aware

of (or can query the channel services to find out if they have access)

OR you can mark the channel invite only.

Once you have done this once you will realise how laborious it is

trying to manually voice people that time out. So you should deal with

the "AutoVoice" section above.

Setting a channel to "Secret Key"
=================================

This is the easiest form of defence, and you should only consider it a

short term measure as it will stop people getting in who don't know the

secret key and if the abuser has a sock-puppet on the inside it will be

ineffective. To set it:

/mode #mychannel +k secretkey

Then anyone who wants to join has to specify the secret key:

/mode #mychannel secretkey

It is a blunt instrument, so remember to -k it when you don't need it.

Setting a channel to "Invite Only"
==================================

This is slightly easier for communities to self manage, but it is a

little bit harder for sock puppets. Setting this mode means that for

anyone to join the channel they have to be invited using /invite. But

the good thing is all operators on the channel get to see who has

invited whom. A good way of catching out sock puppets if they invite

the miscreant in.

/mode #mychannel +i

Then anyone who wants to join has to have an invite:

/invite Nickname #mychannel



Invites aren't permenent, so chances are if they do something silly or

get kicked they have to be invited again.

Like voicing people you will find it gets tedious, it is easier for

them to ask the channel services to invite them, if they have access

permissions.

Banning a user
==============

Use chanserv. It will protect the banmask from the user and

automatically kick then:

/msg chanserv BAN #channel Nickname Reason


Banning a user manually
=======================

First kick them, but queue up the banmask in a notepad and be quick

about it. The manual below recommends the opposite, but that way the

user gets to see the banmask you have set. So kickban.

I've copied this section from irchelp.org as it is quite clear:

http://irchelp.org/irchelp/irctutorial.html

I've saved this for last becuase it's the most complicated. After a

kick, the offender can still rejoin the channel immediately unless you

first set a ban to keep them out (remember to ban then kick, not the

other way around). You need to specify a ban "mask" that matches the

offender's nickname, username, and hostname (if you are not crystal

clear on the distinction between those three, revisit the /WHOIS

command in part 1 now or else what follows will only confuse you more).

You also need to use wildcards like the "*" character to replace any

part the offender can easily change.

For example, if you want to ban buddy, and his /WHOIS says:
*** buddy is abcd@dialup-6.provider.com (Think different.)

Then the most specific ban mask would be "buddy!abcd@dialup-

6.provider.com" (note the use of "!" and "@" to separate the nickname,

username, and hostname). If he changes any of those three, however, he

can slip right back in! For example, he could change his nickname

"buddy" using /NICK. If he's using a graphical client like mIRC he can

change his username "abcd" after a quick /QUIT and reconnect. He can

even change the first part of his hostname ("dialup-6") by dialing up

to his provider again. That's why it might make more sense to do:

/MODE #demo +b *!*abcd@dialup*.provider.com

Or even a domain ban against everybody from that provider (use

sparingly since you may keep out a lot of innocent people):

/MODE #demo +b *!*@*.provider.com

You may view the current bans (from on or off the channel) by leaving

off the ban mask. In the example below, there are 2 bans on #demo, the

first an old ban restored by the server irc.mcs.net when it rejoined

after a split, the second ban was set by buddy against anybody from the

blah.net domain whose username contains "foo":

/MODE #demo +b
Current bans on #demo are:
*** #demo *!*@*.dummy.com irc.mcs.net 903321784
*** #demo *!*foo*@*.blah.net buddy!abcd@dialup-6.provider.com

903310028

If you want to remove the first ban, you have to use the exact same ban

mask, namely:

/MODE #demo -b *!*@*.dummy.com

@DaveP

Having problems with this on irc lately?

@Antique

Only complacency. The latest "attack" is join/part with an "ooh thats naughty words" nicknames.

Wondering whether its worth adding a script to stop that entirely.

@DaveP

Please post this in the article section.