The downfall of freenode
A lot of things have happened with IRC network freenode over the course of the last week.
The roots for this trace back to 2017, when the ownership of freenode was transferred to technology entrepreneur Andrew Lee, alias rasengan (founder of VPN service PIA). freenode staff were made to believe at the time that this was just for funding and it would not impact the operations of the network.
Earlier this month, several freenode staff members
announced their resignation, in response to an apparent hostile takeover by Lee. Volunteer staff members were being forced out in favor of operator spots that have been offered "for money or revenge". This was the first sign that major things were coming down on freenode.
The former freenode staff members have set up a new IRC network,
Libera Chat. Many channels and users have already moved from freenode to Libera.
This was only where the issues would start, as the effects of the takeover would start to become apparent.
One of the first changes was an update to
freenode's policy page, removing references about disallowing hate speech on the platform. This is a major red flag - and many who weren't considering moving out before, would definitely start considering moving out now, lest they get associated with a network's implicit endorsement of hate speech.
freenode's new owners and operators also did not take well towards the backlash they've received and the users trying to abandon ship. Their response includes
seizing or sabotaging IRC channels that have announced their intents to migrate to Libera or another server - this
notably was done to endrift's #mgba channel. It is made
all too clear that any channel that is even considering moving out from freenode will be punished.
Also, one of the new freenode staff members is apparently known for
impersonation/identity theft and harassment.
What this means for TASVideos
Ever since February 2005, more than 16 years ago, TASVideos (then NESVideos) has
hosted #nesvideos and later #tasvideos on freenode IRC as one of the main ways for site members to congregate and communicate with each other.
Starting now, we will no longer be using freenode's IRC services, nor will we support or endorse any of their recent practices.
Nach is in the process of moving channel services to #tasvideos at Libera (
irc://irc.libera.chat/tasvideos) - this will be the new go-to channel for all your IRC chatting needs. We will be updating all IRC references on the site accordingly.