It's widely banned for its tendency to be a DDoS lightningrod, and only slightly less infamous for its impenetrable cliques of time-wasting losers. Was IRC just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or is the protocol responsible for its own failure? And how could we do better?

Discuss!

It doesn't seem to have failed to me...

I don't understand why people complain about idiots on IRC. Visit channels with less adolescents, or create your own. You don't need to listen to people on IM, and that applies to IRC too.

Wait, what? When did IRC fail?

It's still going strong, so far as I can tell. Usenet has rotted away since web-based forums became popular, but thus far there hasn't been a superior alternative to IRC. It's remarkably flexible and seems to have been created with incredible foresight for users' needs (another failing of Usenet). Heck, I was using it earlier today, talking in #macintosh on UnderNet about the Boot Camp announcement.

And where is it widely banned? It works on every ISP I've tried it with.