Bot Policy

Most benevolent bots are permitted on the ChatLounge IRC Network. However, they must be in accordance with this policy. Bots that don't follow this policy are at risk of being K-Lined upon discovery. Failure to read this policy does not grant license to not abide by this policy.

Every Bot Must

  1. Act in accordance with the Acceptable Use Policy.
  2. Have a registered NickServ account, independent of any user. The only exception to this rule are IRC Search crawler bots.
  3. Not have Founder Access in any channel, or hold ChanServ flags +R or +s (Manager Access).
  4. The owner must also be present on the network, and registered with NickServ.
  5. It must be somehow possible for anyone to discover the owner of the bot. This may be achieved in one or both of two ways:
    • The real name field of the bot must contain the primary nick of the bot's owner.
    • Alternatively, you may place the owner's name in the associated metadata for the bot's NickServ account (viewable upon /msg NickServ info BotNick). See /msg NickServ set property for details on how to do this. This command must be run from the bot.
  6. Not appear abandoned (the owner appears missing or otherwise unreachable or unwilling to respond to requests in a satisfactory manner)
  7. Not be a Filler Bot: Every bot must serve a purpose of some sort, whether it's channel protection, statistics, informational, or even entertainment commands. Any bot that does not perform any function is considered a filler, which is prohibited in the Acceptable Use Policy.
  8. While inter-network relay bots are not currently prohibited, keep the following in mind:
    • If network abuse is coming through the bot, the bot may be K-Lined and all communication through the bot would therefore cease.
    • Like any other client, such bots are subject to flood controls. Such bots will not be granted any exemptions from the flood limits.
  9. Using usermode +B is highly encouraged, though not required. When enabled, the words is a Bot will show up whenever someone performs a /whois request on a bot.

If you have any questions about this policy, or any other, please join #help.