Network Configuration Change: Common IRC Ports Blocked

[DanL@Spry]

Our system administrators plan to block the following ports at the network level:

- 6660 - 6669 (inclusive)
- 7000

This change will be effected within the next 24-48 hours.


The decision to block IRC traffic was made after thorough deliberation - our system administrators, management, and support staff determined that the closure of these ports would be the most effective way to ensure the highest quality of service and security for all customers.

IRC processes running under VPS accounts tend to disproportionately consume hardware resource, resulting in diminished performance for other virtual private servers hosted on the same hardware node - for this reason, the use of IRC remains a violation of our Acceptable Use Policy.

We do not plan on blocking any other ports in the future.

Please feel free to post back on this thread with any questions or concerns.

[Benjamin]

When was the language prohibiting IRC clients added? My server is my presence on the internet, including my irc communications. I'm disappointed that I will now have to shop for a new provider.

[DanL@Spry]

The Spry Acceptable Use Policy, as it appeared on March 2nd, 2006:

The following activities are strictly forbidden on all Spry Web Hosting products

. . .

Use of a Spry server as an IRC server. This includes bouncers, bots, and daemons.

- Archive.org


Update: My apologies for the oversight on my part - I see that you were inquiring specifically on IRC clients.

We updated the Acceptable Use Policy on February 20th to reference IRC clients, as well as servers, bots, and bouncers.

[Benjamin]

Thanks for the reply.