Acceptable Use Policy

The rules that keep CosmicIRC a place worth being on. Please read them before you connect.

This Acceptable Use Policy (the “AUP”) governs your use of the CosmicIRC network, its servers, services, websites, and any related resources. By connecting to the network you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, please disconnect.

The AUP exists to protect the people on the network, the volunteers who run it, and the network’s ability to keep operating. It is written in plain language deliberately. If something here is unclear, please ask us — we’d rather explain than enforce.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Your rights and responsibilities
3. How we enforce this policy
4. Conduct that violates this policy
5. Reporting violations
6. Changes to this policy

1. Introduction

CosmicIRC is an independent Internet Relay Chat network operated by volunteers and hosted in India. Use of the network is a privilege we extend to you — not a right. We may suspend or revoke access at any time if we believe it’s in the interest of the community to do so.

CosmicIRC is an unmoderated forum in the technical sense: we do not pre-screen the conversations that happen on it, and we do not monitor messages in real time. You may encounter content from other users that you find offensive, inaccurate, or objectionable. The network is not responsible for that content, and using the network is at your own discretion.

We do not guarantee uninterrupted service. We do not guarantee the accuracy or integrity of data, including registrations stored by our services. We will do our best to keep things stable and your data safe, but we make no warranties.

2. Your rights and responsibilities

When you use CosmicIRC, you agree to behave in a way that respects other users, the volunteers who run the network, and the laws that apply to you. Specifically:

• You will respect other users, their conversations, and their channels.
• You will follow the laws of your country and the country in which the server you connect to is located.
• You will not use the network to harm, harass, threaten, defraud, or stalk others.
• You will not interfere with the operation of the network — no flooding, no automated abuse, no attempts to break security.
• You take responsibility for everything that happens under your registered nickname. If someone else is using your account, that is still your responsibility.

Your privileges on the network are personal. You cannot transfer, sell, share, or trade your nickname, registered channels, or any access we grant you.

If we delete or drop your account — whether because you stopped using it, or because of a policy violation — we are not obligated to preserve any data associated with it.

3. How we enforce this policy

Most issues on the network are minor and accidental. A user fat-fingers a script, double-connects, floods a channel by mistake. In those cases, a network operator will usually warn the person, ask them to fix the behaviour, or briefly disconnect them. That’s the end of it.

More serious or repeated issues escalate. Depending on what happened, possible responses include:

• Channel-level action — a kick or temporary ban from a single channel, applied by channel operators.
• Service ignores — preventing a user from interacting with NickServ, ChanServ, or MemoServ.
• Network kill (a short disconnect, sometimes called /kill) — a one-time removal from the network.
• K-line or G-line — a longer-term or permanent ban from connecting to the network, often applied to a host or IP range used for abuse.
• Wider ISP-level action — in rare cases, if an ISP consistently fails to act on abuse coming from their network, we may temporarily restrict that range. We try hard to avoid this and to work with the ISP first.

Appeals. If you believe you were banned in error, email appeals@cosmicirc.com with your nickname, the approximate time of the action, and a brief explanation. We read every appeal. We don’t reverse every one, but we read every one.

We will cooperate with lawful requests from law enforcement when properly served and where the request is consistent with applicable law. We do not collect more user data than the network needs to operate.

4. Conduct that violates this policy

The following are violations. This list is not exhaustive — common sense and the spirit of the policy apply where the letter does not.

Harassment and harm to other users

• Repeated unwanted contact with a user who has asked you to stop, or who has used /ignore on you.
• Defaming, demeaning, or antagonising another person publicly — for example in a channel topic, a network notice, or a quit message.
• Sharing another person’s private information without their explicit consent (real name, phone number, address, financial details, photos, or any other identifying detail). This is sometimes called “doxxing” and it is never acceptable here.
• Threats of violence, sexual harassment, or hate speech directed at a person or a protected group.
• Content that sexualises minors in any form. This is an absolute line; we will involve law enforcement.

Network abuse

• Flooding users, channels, or services with messages, invites, CTCPs, notices, or any other repeated traffic intended to disrupt.
• Connecting unauthorised servers to the network.
• Attempting to bypass security controls, escalate privileges, or access another user’s account without their consent.
• Running clones (multiple simultaneous clients) for abusive purposes such as flooding, holding nicknames, or evading bans.
• Connecting an unauthorised bot, file server, or automated client. If you want to run a bot for your channel, ask us — we’ll usually say yes.
• Forging the identity of another user or pretending to represent network staff.

Mass advertising and spam

CosmicIRC is for conversation, not promotion. Mass advertising includes, without limitation:

• Private-messaging users to push them to channels, websites, products, or other networks.
• Sending mass invites to channels.
• “On-join” greet messages that advertise unrelated channels, sites, or services.
• Using quit messages, CTCPs, or notices to advertise.
• Sending unsolicited memos through MemoServ for promotional purposes.

For a fuller explanation and how we respond, see our Mass Advertising section.

Misuse of services

• Registering more nicknames or channels than you genuinely use, including for the purpose of holding names from other users or for resale.
• Selling or trading registered nicknames or channels. These are free network resources and they aren’t for sale.
• Impersonating CosmicIRC services (NickServ, ChanServ, MemoServ, etc.) with a custom nickname designed to confuse users.
• Using channel access lists in ways that effectively make them public (for example, granting access to *!*@*). If you want a public channel, you don’t need it registered.
• Running “war” channels — channels whose primary purpose is to flood, attack, or harass other users or channels.

Illegal content and activity

• Distributing or coordinating the distribution of pirated software, films, music, or other copyrighted material.
• Channels whose primary purpose is to exchange files outside the spirit of conversation. CosmicIRC is a chat network, not a file-sharing system.
• Coordinating fraud, financial scams, or theft of accounts and credentials.
• Anything that violates applicable Indian law, or the law of your jurisdiction.

5. Reporting violations

If you witness or experience something that violates this policy, please report it. The fastest options:

• In real time: open the floating Contact button on this site and click Chat with us — live. A staff member will respond.
• By email: abuse@cosmicirc.com for general abuse, dmca@cosmicirc.com for copyright issues.
• On the network: message an operator with the /who 0 o or /stats p commands to find one online, and tell them what happened.

The more detail you can give us — the time, the channel, the nickname involved, and any logs — the faster we can act. Logs are most useful when they include timestamps.

6. Changes to this policy

We will revise this AUP from time to time. Substantive changes will be announced on the News page at least seven days before they take effect, where reasonably possible.

Your continued use of the network after a change means you accept the revised policy. The version in effect at the time of your conduct is the version that applies to it.

This policy is governed by the laws of India. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest of the policy remains in effect.

Questions? The Help page covers most common situations. For anything else, the floating Contact button is the fastest way to reach us.