After staff revolt, Freenode management takes over hundreds of IRC channels for 'policy violations'
(2021/05/26)
- Reference: 1622063789
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/05/26/freenode_irc_takeover/
- Source link:
Following the [1]Freenode schism last week that saw most of the IRC network's volunteer staff leave to form rival network Libera Chat, Freenode on Tuesday commandeered hundreds of channels used by various open source software projects and fiddled with their permissions.
"Today (2021-05-26) a large number of Gentoo channels have been hijacked by Freenode staff, including channels that were not yet migrated to Libera chat," the Gentoo Linux project [2]said in an online post. "We cannot perceive this otherwise than as an open act of hostility and we have effectively left Freenode."
Various channels associated with programming language Raku [3]were taken over , ostensibly for policy violations, and then restored under an altered set of permissions – Freenode granted itself ops (operator) status and stripped other accounts of the voice flag, which grants the ability to communicate on privileged ops channels. In other cases, accounts also had their mod powers removed ("de-opped").
[4]
[5]
[6]
The channel used by the Elixir programming language, which made a move to Libera Chat, was [7]taken over in a similar manner . So too was [8]Haskell's channel .
All told, it appears something like [9]700 irc.freenode.net channels have been seized and re-permissioned, supposedly because the channels mentioned Libera Chat in violation of Freenode's advertising policy.
Freenode users have reported that the Freenode channel topic now states, "Remember, we do not support spamming or advertising other networks in channels topics or in other forms."
[10]Freenode IRC staff resign en masse, unhappy about new management
[11]Freenode IRC users told to change passwords after securo-breach
[12]Nominet chooses civil war over compromise by rejecting ex-BBC Trust chairman
[13]Tinfoil hat brigade switches brand allegiance to bog paper
Several days ago, Freenode [14]modified its off-topic use policy forbidding "inappropriate advertising" to read, "Off topic channels are required to act in good faith in accordance to the Freenode community as a whole," and defined inappropriate advertising to include "unused channels for the purpose of polluting the channel list results."
Thus, it appears that Freenode has chosen to interpret its rules in a way that disallows the promotion of competing services, a stance similar to that articulated by Apple in its iOS App Store Review Guidelines.
[15]
"A little over an hour ago, a user or bot named 'Freenodecom' stormed into the Freenode channels for Gay Geeks that I have been a part of for over two decades," said Laurence Berland, a former Google engineer, [16]via Twitter . "The topic was changed, the ownership of the channel was revoked."
Berland said that the takeover appears to have been triggered because chat topics mentioned that the channel was migrating to another IRC network.
"Is the goal to just completely destroy everything that ever made Freenode worthwhile?" he wrote. "This is heinous and wrong and I just don't get it."
[17]
Berland subsequently posted a screenshot of a Freenode chat involving "rasengan" – Andrew Lee, who acquired ownership of Freenode in 2017 and whose involvement with the network led to the staff departures.
According to this screenshot, Lee posted [18]a global notice across Freenode stating, "In the recent policy enforcement, some channels were erroneously included. We greatly apologize for the inconvenience."
Berland [19]expressed doubt that the mass channel takeover was a mistake and speculated the notice was issued as an attempt to walk-back the unpopular intervention.
Atheme, a developer of IRC platform software, has published [20]an open letter decrying Freenode's actions.
"On May 25th, Andrew Lee conducted a channel takeover of unprecedented breadth on Freenode, assuming control of hundreds of channels, many of which were legitimately registered by FOSS and peer-directed organizations who had once used Freenode for their channels in order to erase the wishes of those who had since chose to move elsewhere," the company said in its post. "...The leaders and participants of the Atheme community are disappointed by this action."
Atheme expressed dissatisfaction with Lee and announced it would no longer collaborate with Freenode in the development of its software.
The Register asked Lee to comment but we've not heard back. On Tuesday, Lee published [21]a post accusing Libera Chat backers of "destroy [Freenode] from the inside."
Libera Chat meanwhile [22]celebrated its launch , claiming to have attracted 20,000 accounts in 10 days. ®
Get our [23]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/freenode_staff_resigns/
[2] https://www.gentoo.org/news/2021/05/26/gentoo-freenode-channels-hijacked.html
[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/rakulang/comments/nlbt0r/freenode_staff_has_nuked_the_raku_channels/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YK7E-wSjA4VM7c3ATKl1YwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YK7E-wSjA4VM7c3ATKl1YwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YK7E-wSjA4VM7c3ATKl1YwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://twitter.com/AmNicd/status/1397448111291879424?s=20
[8] https://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/nl74hc/freenode_has_unilaterally_taken_over_haskell/
[9] https://mastodon.sdf.org/@kline/106299403921451814
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/freenode_staff_resigns/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2014/09/15/freenode_irc_users_warned_breach/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/13/nominet_civil_war/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2020/03/13/tinfoil_hat_brigade_switches_brand_allegiance_to_bog_paper/
[14] https://web.archive.org/web/diff/20210523063448/20210513234811/https://freenode.net/policies
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YK7E-wSjA4VM7c3ATKl1YwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://twitter.com/laurenceb/status/1397409061348331521?s=20
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YK7E-wSjA4VM7c3ATKl1YwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://twitter.com/AmNicd/status/1397408526868287488?s=20
[19] https://twitter.com/laurenceb/status/1397409063793614854?s=20
[20] https://atheme.github.io/atheme-open-letter/
[21] https://freenode.net/news/for-foss
[22] https://libera.chat/news/one-week-of-libera-chat
[23] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
"Today (2021-05-26) a large number of Gentoo channels have been hijacked by Freenode staff, including channels that were not yet migrated to Libera chat," the Gentoo Linux project [2]said in an online post. "We cannot perceive this otherwise than as an open act of hostility and we have effectively left Freenode."
Various channels associated with programming language Raku [3]were taken over , ostensibly for policy violations, and then restored under an altered set of permissions – Freenode granted itself ops (operator) status and stripped other accounts of the voice flag, which grants the ability to communicate on privileged ops channels. In other cases, accounts also had their mod powers removed ("de-opped").
[4]
[5]
[6]
The channel used by the Elixir programming language, which made a move to Libera Chat, was [7]taken over in a similar manner . So too was [8]Haskell's channel .
All told, it appears something like [9]700 irc.freenode.net channels have been seized and re-permissioned, supposedly because the channels mentioned Libera Chat in violation of Freenode's advertising policy.
Freenode users have reported that the Freenode channel topic now states, "Remember, we do not support spamming or advertising other networks in channels topics or in other forms."
[10]Freenode IRC staff resign en masse, unhappy about new management
[11]Freenode IRC users told to change passwords after securo-breach
[12]Nominet chooses civil war over compromise by rejecting ex-BBC Trust chairman
[13]Tinfoil hat brigade switches brand allegiance to bog paper
Several days ago, Freenode [14]modified its off-topic use policy forbidding "inappropriate advertising" to read, "Off topic channels are required to act in good faith in accordance to the Freenode community as a whole," and defined inappropriate advertising to include "unused channels for the purpose of polluting the channel list results."
Thus, it appears that Freenode has chosen to interpret its rules in a way that disallows the promotion of competing services, a stance similar to that articulated by Apple in its iOS App Store Review Guidelines.
[15]
"A little over an hour ago, a user or bot named 'Freenodecom' stormed into the Freenode channels for Gay Geeks that I have been a part of for over two decades," said Laurence Berland, a former Google engineer, [16]via Twitter . "The topic was changed, the ownership of the channel was revoked."
Berland said that the takeover appears to have been triggered because chat topics mentioned that the channel was migrating to another IRC network.
"Is the goal to just completely destroy everything that ever made Freenode worthwhile?" he wrote. "This is heinous and wrong and I just don't get it."
[17]
Berland subsequently posted a screenshot of a Freenode chat involving "rasengan" – Andrew Lee, who acquired ownership of Freenode in 2017 and whose involvement with the network led to the staff departures.
According to this screenshot, Lee posted [18]a global notice across Freenode stating, "In the recent policy enforcement, some channels were erroneously included. We greatly apologize for the inconvenience."
Berland [19]expressed doubt that the mass channel takeover was a mistake and speculated the notice was issued as an attempt to walk-back the unpopular intervention.
Atheme, a developer of IRC platform software, has published [20]an open letter decrying Freenode's actions.
"On May 25th, Andrew Lee conducted a channel takeover of unprecedented breadth on Freenode, assuming control of hundreds of channels, many of which were legitimately registered by FOSS and peer-directed organizations who had once used Freenode for their channels in order to erase the wishes of those who had since chose to move elsewhere," the company said in its post. "...The leaders and participants of the Atheme community are disappointed by this action."
Atheme expressed dissatisfaction with Lee and announced it would no longer collaborate with Freenode in the development of its software.
The Register asked Lee to comment but we've not heard back. On Tuesday, Lee published [21]a post accusing Libera Chat backers of "destroy [Freenode] from the inside."
Libera Chat meanwhile [22]celebrated its launch , claiming to have attracted 20,000 accounts in 10 days. ®
Get our [23]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/freenode_staff_resigns/
[2] https://www.gentoo.org/news/2021/05/26/gentoo-freenode-channels-hijacked.html
[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/rakulang/comments/nlbt0r/freenode_staff_has_nuked_the_raku_channels/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YK7E-wSjA4VM7c3ATKl1YwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YK7E-wSjA4VM7c3ATKl1YwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YK7E-wSjA4VM7c3ATKl1YwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://twitter.com/AmNicd/status/1397448111291879424?s=20
[8] https://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/nl74hc/freenode_has_unilaterally_taken_over_haskell/
[9] https://mastodon.sdf.org/@kline/106299403921451814
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/freenode_staff_resigns/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2014/09/15/freenode_irc_users_warned_breach/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/13/nominet_civil_war/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2020/03/13/tinfoil_hat_brigade_switches_brand_allegiance_to_bog_paper/
[14] https://web.archive.org/web/diff/20210523063448/20210513234811/https://freenode.net/policies
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YK7E-wSjA4VM7c3ATKl1YwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://twitter.com/laurenceb/status/1397409061348331521?s=20
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/devops&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YK7E-wSjA4VM7c3ATKl1YwAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://twitter.com/AmNicd/status/1397408526868287488?s=20
[19] https://twitter.com/laurenceb/status/1397409063793614854?s=20
[20] https://atheme.github.io/atheme-open-letter/
[21] https://freenode.net/news/for-foss
[22] https://libera.chat/news/one-week-of-libera-chat
[23] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The policy euphemism
b0llchit
...forbidding "inappropriate advertising"...
Hm. lets see...
Smartass@#chx> We moved to network XYZ
Bzzzt... disconnect. Ok, this is wrong.
Smartass@#chy> We have a secret. You know what we did? We did the same thing as many others and got smart. You know, that smart thing you can do. We all can do it. We can all be smart.
Pling! you see, advertising done appropriately.
Telling someone not to say A makes them say B with the meaning of A and we all know it. Only idiots try to use bad policies to limit expression. When you need such rules, you have already lost control.
The Django Project has moved too
"At approximately 3 am UTC on May 26, 2021, the operators of the Freenode IRC network assumed control of the #django* channels on that network. This means that representatives of the Django community no longer retain the ability to enforce Django's Code of Conduct on the Freenode IRC network. Additionally, we do not have the ability to set a topic on Django-related IRC channels on this network."
[..]
[1]Django IRC Channels migration to Libera.Chat
They're coming in thick and fast. Makes you wonder what will be the point of being in control of a deserted FreeNode. The more they keep digging the more value it loses.
[1] https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2021/may/26/django-irc-channels-migration-liberachat/