Copyright, mass advertising, and service-abuse policies in one place. Last reviewed June 2026.
Note: This page covers the law-adjacent policies of CosmicIRC. The DMCA section below is provided for transparency and is structured to support standard takedown handling, but is not a substitute for legal advice. A network operator should consult counsel before relying on safe-harbour claims in any specific jurisdiction.
CosmicIRC respects intellectual property and expects its users to do the same. We respond to credible notices of copyright infringement involving content that is actually under our control.
Before sending a takedown notice, please understand the technical situation, because it affects what we’re able to do:
cosmicirc.com URL) — we can and will act on a properly-formed notice.If you believe content hosted on our web infrastructure infringes your copyright, please send a notice to dmca@cosmicirc.com containing:
Notices that omit these elements may be slower to process or may not be actionable. Knowingly false notices misuse the takedown process and may expose the sender to liability under applicable law.
We will respond to properly-formed notices in a reasonable time. Where appropriate, we will also forward a notice to the user who posted the content, who may submit a counter-notice.
If your content was removed and you believe it was removed in error, you may submit a counter-notice to dmca@cosmicirc.com. The counter-notice should identify the removed material, state under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief it was removed in error, and provide your contact information.
Users who repeatedly post infringing material may have their network accounts terminated in accordance with the Acceptable Use Policy.
CosmicIRC exists for conversation, not promotion. We treat unsolicited advertising on the network as a form of abuse, because it disrupts the experience for everyone else and consumes resources we maintain on a volunteer basis.
Without limitation, the following are treated as mass advertising on CosmicIRC:
Our response is proportional to the conduct, and is at our discretion. Common actions include:
/kill of the offending client.When we report abuse to a provider with reasonable logs, we expect a response within a reasonable time (typically several working days). Acceptable responses include warning the user, suspending the account, or terminating service. Persistent provider non-response leaves us with no option except range-level action, which we apply reluctantly.
This policy is informational. It describes how we typically respond, not a contractual commitment to any specific action. We retain full discretion to act, or not act, as the circumstances warrant.
The CosmicIRC services — NickServ, ChanServ, MemoServ, and others — are provided free of charge to the community. Abusing them harms everyone who relies on them. The following are not permitted.
Registering more nicknames or channels than you reasonably use, including for the purpose of hoarding names, blocking other users from registering them, or reselling them later. We look at registrations case by case; if you need a script to identify to all your nicks, you probably have too many.
Nicknames and channels are free resources we provide for personal use. They aren’t property and they aren’t for sale. Selling or trading them is grounds for losing them.
MemoServ is for leaving brief notes. It is not a substitute for email, and it is not a vector for harassment. Flooding another user’s memos or using them to harass is treated as harassment under the AUP.
Any nickname designed to impersonate a CosmicIRC service (NickServ, ChanServ, etc.), or any attempt to trick users into thinking your messages come from a service, will be dropped and held by network staff.
Configuring a channel access list to effectively grant access to everyone (for example, an entry of *!*@*) defeats the purpose of registration. We may wipe such access lists or drop the channel.
Using scripts, timers, or repeated manual attempts to grab a nickname or channel that’s about to expire — especially using nicks that are not yours — is service abuse. So is loading multiple clients with the goal of racing for an expiring registration. Don’t.
Channels created to flood services, attack other channels, or coordinate harassment are closed on sight.
Different kinds of issues go to different addresses so they reach the right people quickly:
Because CosmicIRC is staffed by volunteers, email is the fastest channel. We aim to acknowledge legitimate reports within a few days. Reports with clear timestamps and specific channels or nicknames are acted on much faster than vague ones — please include details.
Related: the Acceptable Use Policy covers conduct on the network, and the Privacy page covers what data we collect and what we don’t.
irc.cosmicirc.com.