DareNET was founded in March of 2008, and hasn't really gone public, just yet. It is an online community built around an IRC network. It is managed with the collective experience of members of the IRC community. DareNET, which is well structured for growth, strives to provide quality services for the Internet community.

Why DareNET?

When DareNET was founded we believed, and continue to believe, that IRC is important, and it wasn't being done right. IRC provides an opportunity for people to connect in ways that cannot be achieved through e-mail, discussion forums or usenets. IRC builds truly global communities and trust between online members.

And, you know what, IRC IS HARD TO DO RIGHT. As with any structured system involving people, politics are, unfortunately, everywhere. Who tells who what who can say or do where. Since it is largely public access, like the real world, IRC is full of all types of people, from your little 'ole sweet granny to psychopaths. The people in power are often those who just happened to have the resources regardless of their experience or level of maturity. This is one of the very reasons thousands of networks are in existence today.

We feel the majority of networks out there focus too much on the administrative aspects, and have lost sight of what IRC is at its core -- a means for which people can communicate (chat) with one another. So, after several bad experiences, we felt we'd try and make a difference. Therefore, we established DareNET -- breaking from the IRC tradition and designing a network around how IRC should be:

Community Involvement. Those who put work into the network should have a say in what happens, in some way, shape or form. We vote on what servers to permanently link. We talk freely and honestly about issues and come to solutions that work for everyone involved, wherever possible. We also try to provide opportunities for anyone who wants to contribute to DareNET to be able to do so. After all, DareNET is only as good as everyone who contributes to it, from code to documentation to just a friendly greeting for new users. Also, as much as is possible in today's world, our systems are open for community inspection and peer review.

Freedom of Speech. Essential to any community, we have almost no rules regarding what you can and cannot talk about, or who you can talk with. We do not police the content on our network, but we do provide each and every user the ability to choose who they do and do not want to read text from. Channel operators are free to manage their channels as they wish without interference. This includes the ability to kick/ban individuals for any reason, or no reason at all. We draw the line only at severe illegal acitivities, such as child pornography, spamming or making serious threats against others.

Friendliness. Our staff are always available to assist with any questions you might have, and do whatever they can to improve our users' DareNET/IRC experience. We strive to use listening skills and diplomacy to solve problems as much as possible.

Justice. Our staff have clear roles and are severly punished for overstepping those boundaries. We are not allowed to interfere in channel matters, or use our "powers" based on personal feelings or grudges. We have a strict set of staff guidelines, so everyone is aware of what they can and cannot do. In short, we only get involved when someone explicitly violates our published rules. Our users can trust us not to interfere.

Quality and Stability. We do everything possible to provide our users the best service we can. We strive for quality over quantity. We run only on the most stable hosting providers, unlike most other networks that run multiple servers off one shell, or link any ircd shell they can find to boost their server count. We consider limiting netsplits, lag and downtime as our highest priority.

Overwhemlingly, DareNET is a community focused on its users. We invite you to join in and take part in it.