On November 30, TechCrunch posted an entry titled “Will IRSeeK Have a Chilling Effect on IRC Chat?”. Well, apparently it will. After receiving hundreds of emails, IRSeeK announced on their blog yesterday that service has been suspended.

IRC operaters and users complained about the privacy implications of having IRC conversations logged and searchable on-line. While these conversations take place in what is considered public space, many users were apparently not happy with having their remarks archived for the world to see.

IRSeeK is looking to take steps to ensure that they meet the following suggestions:

• Anonymizing nicknakes
• Provide a method for channel operators to opt-out
• Ensure bots only archive public channels that have not opted-out
• Making bots detectable by nickname and providing a link to their policies
• Better explain policies on their website

Seems like someone should have checked with at least the IRC operators before indexing what happens on their IRC servers.

Slashdot, Techdirt
Update (12/4 20:20): Here are freenode’s (an IRC network) remarks on IRSeeK. The way IRSeeK went about this seems pretty slimy, using Tor to hide their bots with two possible motives I see: to log stealthily or to evade bans/kills, etc.