Students also knew that one of the newest and most popular Internet-based services, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was the fastest way to exchange information and organize, but at the same time, the most vulnerable to governmental surveillance. Conversations occurring in IRC chat forums are monitored by a system operator and are archived. Regardless of any handle (or “nickname”) used to protect identity, a participant’s Internet identity is readily available to all. In order to avoid any eavesdropping, Indonesian students used IRC forums as “meeting grounds,” where trust could be established between participants. They would then move to communicate privately, outside the forum, one-on-one or in groups, over the IRC channels.