Freenode administrators step down after ‘takeover’ and create libera.chat
A large number of operators of the popular IRC network Freenode have resigned after what they saw as a hostile takeover of the network by Andrew Lee’s company Freenode Limited. In a report, they recommend everyone to switch to libera.chat.
The voluntary administrators of Freenode indicated in large numbers last week that they would stop their work, which threatens to jeopardize the survival of the popular IRC network. The exodus can be traced back to attempts by Freenode Ltd to take control of the network, they say. Some even speak of a takeover by a ‘malicious party’, as a result of which data can no longer be regarded as safe.
The controversy originated in 2017 when the then management of the administrators, Christel Dahlskjaer, or Christel, transferred Freenode matters to the previously established company Freenode Ltd and sold them to Andrew Lee’s Private Internet Access. The substantiation was that this was necessary from an organizational point of view and that Private Internet Access could sponsor events. Neither the company nor Lee would have any further influence, the promise was made.
In March this year, Christel left after a fuss about another commercial deal and the administrators appointed Tomaw as the new leader. Then Lee began to agitate in the day-to-day business and it turned out that Freenode Ltd had gotten hold of much more than the managers suspected. The company appears to own the domains and all metadata related to NickServ and ChanServ registrations, as well as MemoServ memos and ProjectServ metadata, among other things. Many administrators have now distanced themselves from Freenode and are now focusing on libera.chat, which they see as the successor to Freenode.
Lee himself claims that Christel was kicked out by Tomaw and others and that she was continuously attacked by his ‘team’. He declares to be the rightful owner of Freenode: “Given the millions I have invested in Freenode so far, the fact that I own it and the fact that I legally protected and financed Freenode’s administrators when they got help. it says a lot about them that they now lie so much and slander me. ” Lee is the founder of Private Internet Access but sold the VPN company in 2019 for 115 million euros to the security company Kape Technologies.