Some clarification regarding Bots/Drones or Clones
It seems a couple of people have the wrong impression regarding our AUP where bots or drone connections are concerned. On the contrary, our Network Policy is to make sure you understand that our right to removal is all-encompassing where bots are concerned and that no bot connections are protected under any implied right to use our services.
So, if we (NationCHAT Staff) deem a specific bot to be a negative presence, we can and will remove it from NationCHAT Network without any requirement regarding "legality".
In order to say that this means we are "harboring" anything, one would have to assume that all bot connections are illegal. This is far from reality. There are a lot of open source IRC bots that people use for various purposes. A couple of the most common are Eggdrops and eMechs.
The eMechs even have "networking" capabilities, and they all have the ability to interact with users and perform activities on IRC. Often people use these for advanced channel management, amusement and even relaying messages between channels they own on different networks.
Another common legitimate bot is the eggdrop, the world's most popular IRC bot and the oldest still being maintained. Eggdrop is the most advanced IRC bot because provides a staggering array of options for user and channel management and can easily be expanded further to provide even more functions: online games, stats, information storage and lookup, greeting channel members, tracking last seen times, botnet management, anti-spam, file serving and distribution (usually via the DCC protocol), IRC services and much more.
So what makes a bot illegal? Pretty much one thing: it's hosting.
Almost all bots that are 'illegal' are so due to how and where the owner hosts the bot. If the bot is hosted on a "hacked machine" or on any resource that the bot owner does not have the right to host IRC processes, it becomes illegal. In almost all cases, if a bot is hosted on someone's personal internet connection, or on leased/paid hosting services, the bot itself is legal. In some cases the bot doesnt need to be hosted illegally to be "illegal" and a few examples are:
- bots using proxies without proxy owner's authorization or using hacked machines for proxies
- bots that are actively searching for vulnerable systems to exploit aka "scanning"
- bots that are engaged in activity to attack anyone or anyone's resources, such as DDoS, flooding, etc
Just like almost any services, bots and file sharing both can be legal or illegal, depending on the means, the activity, and the rights to use of the user who is in control of said resource.
Please keep in mind, that IRC "bots" are not hosted on our servers, any files they are "offering" are not hosted on our servers, and the only way we know anything is going on is if we receive a valid abuse contact.
NOTE: NationCHAT Network provides free Eggdrop bots, for registered channels with X ONLY, dedicated to help owners run their channels more efficient and safer.
Enjoy NationCHAT!
Kind regards,
NationCHAT Team
E-mail help@nationchat.org with any suggestions or comments
Services URL: http://services.nationchat.org
Nationchat URL: https://www.nationchat.org
