b) IRC is a haven for these people, unfortunately networks like Undernet take it a step further by providing channel services and host hiding so that not only the people behind the DDoS are hidden, but so are the bots themselves. The people running the network fear retaliation too much to do anything about it. === The sad thing is that IRC has actual positive uses for sharing information; look at the various help channels (especially on a net like freenode) for everything from Linux to math to all different types of programming languages. That's what a lot of people don't understand when they examine the problem of IRC and botnets, is that YES it has huge issues but it has legitimate (albeit very under-proportionate to the number of non-legitimate) uses and users. -Drew