For IRC channel operators

[jmiller]

Alright, for the past several months I have been an operator on a medium sized, PalmOS related channel that has been around for years.
One of rules is no discussion of software piracy.
To attempt to enforce this rule we have such things as a 'No Warez' warning in the topic, an 'on join' message, and an @find and !list kick.
Despite all that, there are probably about a dozen or so users a day who come in with such questions as "where can I get a crack for <application-name>?" or "I cracked <application-name> and I now receive fata exception errors".
We also receive piles of revolving doors who are coming from a palmwarez channel, read the topic then part.
Users who ask such innapropriate questions are usually just /kick'ed from the channel, as they have had many warnings.
(I chose not to ban as most users tend to learn.)

Anyways, what I am looking for are some suggestions to prevent such occurances from happening, as it is frustrating have to deal with that garbage so often, when I am trying to help another user with a real problem.

What should I do?
- Would adding a revolving door ban help at all?
- Would banning abusers help?
- Would banning users in warez channels help?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[Coolin]

I don't see how adding a revolving door ban would help... They join the channel, see that no warez is allowed, and leave. They probably will never come back again. Banning them will have no effect.

What you should do I think is to do a 5-10 minute ban on users who ask for warez even after a warning. Consider this a 2nd warning. After the 3rd, just ban them as long as you want... You have no need for people who ignore rules.

I believe banning users in warez channels to be a bad idea. They may be a warez user, but they may also want some intelligent discussion about Palms and by banning them even before they join, you deny them of that luxury.

 

[trenzterra]

I agree with Coolin. Anyway, banning doesn't have enough effect as they can redialup, and join again. Instead of kicking, you should use a 1 or 2 min ban, like what some channels use. So that they realise that they are banned, instead of being kick and rejoining when their auto rejoin on kick is turned on.

 

[Daniel]

Originally posted by trenzterra
I agree with Coolin. Anyway, banning doesn't have enough effect as they can redialup, and join again.

I don't know where you come from, however, on certain networks, you can ban the hostname. Unless they reformat, you don't have to worry about them coming back.

 

[trenzterra]

Originally posted by Daniel
I don't know where you come from, however, on certain networks, you can ban the hostname. Unless they reformat, you don't have to worry about them coming back.

Well in AustNet, it protects the user IP so a hostname ban isn't possible. It uses virtual world address, like vw2944.isp.com

so the only viable way is an isp ban which isn't recommended.

 

[jmiller]

Hmm, I think warnings would be a good idea.
I guess we are very lenient, only have 2 banned users, who will always remain that way do to horrible behaviours.

The reason I was thinking of banning warez users, as half the time they come in because they can't find what they were looking for, or because a crack has messed up something in PalmOS' behaviour.

However, we have a bot that /whois' a user upon entry and warns if they are in #palmwarez, so we know what to expect.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Coolin]

I would just temp ban anyone who asks about warez for 10 minutes and PM them to tell them the rules. (Then ignore them, or else they'll start bitching at you)

 

[jmiller]

Yeah.
I think I will whip up a script that will kick, set a 10 minute ban, and /ignore the user, all in one.
Should come in quite handy.

 

[WarMachine]

My recommendation:

Set the channel +m, and let a bot /notice the other user about channel rules (briefly). If the user stays in channel for 30 seconds without changing nick, the bot should +v the user (given the hostmask isn't in the list of users to remain devoiced).

I've seen this implemented successfully in a couple of channels. Most users who'd come to your channel looking for cracks,etc. would read the bot's notice saying "No Warez. No Cracks. Asking for it would mean a perm ban.", they'd leave the channel (of course, you can't do anything with idiots who'd still go on).

 

[jmiller]

Yeah, that is a good idea.
However, sadly, many users are intimated for whatever reason when they se a channel full of @ and +, and immediately part.
I'll work on something, perhaps compiling a lareg list of the users and submitting it to a IRCop.