London Trust Media, who currently support freenode and snoonet IRC networks, have bought https://www.irc.com and are pledging an IRC revival.
Announcement shown on the website:
We grew up with IRC. Let's take it further.
What if I told you, there is a world that values you - for your thoughts, your opinions and who you are?
There is.
It's a beautiful world, and for me, more importantly, it is the world that I have to thank for its consequence of keeping me alive.
A score ago, I took my first steps into IRC. On cin.il.us.DAL.net, I connected to IRC and somehow found myself in a random IRC channel without any participants. Out of the blue, some random person must have typed /list and found the channel and joined out of curiosity. However it happened, this person who I will never know, spent an hour teaching me how to use IRC.
As a minority growing up in the middle of America, racism was a thing, and it would be a lie if I said that I never shed a tear over this. In this turbulent world, where but few genes dictate our outer appearance, and chimpanzees share 99% of the same DNA as us, somehow, we're only focused on what our eyes are seeing.
On IRC, on the other hand, I was accepted, listened to, and spoken to. IRC adopted me. IRC accepted me. And above all, IRC befriended me, without hesitation. I have met many friends on IRC.
I joined teams, from DALnet help teams to anime fansubbing groups. I was taught how to code. I learned so many different points of views.
IRC truly grew me as a person.
Today, I'm strong. Today, I'm confident. Today, I am social.
Today, I am patient. Today, I am accepting. Today, I have a cause.
This would not be the case, if yesterday, for me, was not IRC.
I will do unto others as I would like done to myself. IRC created me. And for this reason, I pledge to revive IRC.
IRC, is a transcended level of humanity, that values you for all the other genes and experiences that make you, you - unlike the "real" world which is utterly focused on nothing.
When people tell you, it's what's on the inside that counts, they are telling you to get into IRC. It's a world, that values you, for you. Putting our money where our mouths are, through London Trust Media Holdings and myself, funding, sponsorships, and other contributions have been and will continue to be provided to IRC clients like KiwiIRC and weechat, IRC networks like freenode, snoonet, DALnet, and EuropNet.
Today, I'd like to introduce a few new projects that we are soon launching alongside notable IRC communities:
IRC.com (A professional, friendly network for huge communities)
IRC University - Free Education for the World (Seeking top expert Ph. D professors to teach - email us!)
IRC Gaming (We're going to have literally hundreds of thousands in cash prizes!)
IRC Ventures (VC/Incubation on IRC!)
IRC Foundation (Donating and supporting existing great IRC projects!)
Providing IRC bouncer (always on connectivity) support to all IRC networks and keeping it open!
In other words, IRC is here, and IRC is backed.
Yours truly,
Andrew Lee
Co-founder, London Trust Media Holdings