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 participants 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.