Internet Safety, ChatAngels (formerly IRC)

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ChatAngels (formerly IRC)

The Internet has experienced growth unlike any industry in the history of mankind. Never before has a technology advanced so quickly in both ease of use and number of users. Once upon a time, the only users were scientists, educators, and government officials, none of who would have ever thought of maliciously hacking into another user's computer, or stalking an innocent victim. The Internet was used solely for the purpose of exchanging information.

Today the Internet is a place where people can meet with each other to play games or simply to chat. It is a utopia for researchers, and it is a place where merchants can sell their goods. Today there are numerous uses for the Internet and millions of users. It quickly became apparent that there was also a need for programs to sniff out possible viruses, for firewalls to protect computers from invasion, and for organizations to teach people how to use these programs, how to be safe while surfing the Net, and to help people who have been victimized by abusers of the technology.

WiredSafety responded to the need for a safe haven - a place where users could come for help - by forming the IRC Team. This team was named for the first place on the Internet from which our group offered help to online victims. The name changed to ChatAngels to better reflect this team's expanded role of providing help to all interactive communication users online, including mobile technologies. IRC still needs us the most, but other areas are catching up on helping with technology abuse issues and assisting confused users.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Internet Relay Chat, IRC is a chat environment available online, free of charge. It is not part of the Web, and requires the use of specialized software, the most popular of which is mIRC. IRC operates through thousands of servers, each controlled by different groups or individuals. Each server has multiple channels (chat rooms), often titled with the description of the chat topic in that channel. It is far more popular outside of the United States than within the United States. It is also where the darker side of the Internet flourishes, with channels such as "baby rape" and "father/daughter sex." A vast majority of the child pornography distributors function in IRC, often in the open. In this crazy place where children and adults wander around seeking information, communication and entertainment, IRC users need our help and expertise the most. As we move forward, and surfing patterns and habits change, the ChatAngels Team is expanding into the Web as well, helping those who need our help in large portal chats, instant messaging arenas and Web-based chat. WiredSafety will also be the first of the online help groups to offer "wireless" help to text-messaging technology users as well.

The members of this team are highly trained in both the technologies of the IRC chat program and answering the calls for help from users who are being stalked, harassed, and hacked. This team of concerned, caring individuals helps victims by instructing them on how to avoid such occurrences in the future, and also points them to a WiredPatrol Team, Cyberstalking and Harassment team, who will help them immediately by teaching them how to eliminate the problem.

Victims of malicious acts are not the only people that ChatAngels assist. Our volunteers welcome new users to the chat program and help acclimate them to this new environment. Our ChatAngels have also helped save many lives. Suicidal chatters come to us in distress and can chat with someone who is actively listening and genuinely concerned about them. This team does not counsel, but encourages them to e-mail our CrisisAngel Team, members of which refer them to affordable help in their area, and even to free online counseling for those who request it.

Children often find their way into IRC. Unfortunately, cybercrime touches them also. When they come to our ChatAngels for assistance, the team takes this golden opportunity to get the child's parents involved in their computer use. ChatAngels praise the child for learning how to get help, and assures them that their parent(s) do want to help. Once contact is made with the adult, the teaching begins, making parents partners in their child's online life.

With WiredKids.org, our children's and teen's program group, special teams within ChatAngels offer safe chat supervision to children and teens in our WiredKidz.org and WiredTeenz.org channels. They teach these young people how to communicate safely and how to use the Internet and all its technologies responsibly. Privacy is a very important lesson to learn when using online technologies. It is one of the most important messages taught by ChatAngels members.

Reader's Digest has featured our work helping victims of cyberstalking and harassment in its article Angels Online (April 2000) and we train and assist law enforcement agencies in tracking down and combating cybercrime on IRC and other communication technologies. The team offers a helping and caring hand whenever it is needed, operating 24/7, with its worldwide volunteer base. Our multilingual support allows our International Team to help those whose first language is not English.

Because of the efforts of this special team, thousands of people are now chatting, e-mailing, and surfing safely on the Information Highway, people are alive who might not be, and children and their parents are now partners on the journey on the Net. Internet users have quickly learned that they are never alone online, not as long as there are WiredSafety's and WiredPatrol's ChatAngels.

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ChatAngels (formerly IRC)