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Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of real-time InternetInternet or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group (many-to-many) communication in discussion forums called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication and data transfers via IM (private message).

IRC was created by Jarkko Oikarinen in late August 1988 to replace a program called MUT (MultiUser talk) on a BBS called OuluBox in Finland. Oikarinen found inspiration in a chat system known as Bitnet Relay, which operated on the BITNET.

IRC gained prominence when it was used to report on the Soviet coup attempt of 1991 throughout a media blackout. It was previously used in a similar fashion by Kuwaitis during the Iraq invasion. Relevant logs are available from ibiblio archive.

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Some content adapted from the Pseudopedia article "Internet_Relay_Chat" under the GNU Free Documentation License.