In my search for a viable host for my site I've run into a partiucular host that seems to fit the bill but does NOT allow IRC of any kind on their system.

• Is the chat feature within the Wiccle script IRC?
• If not does it possibly fall into the same category for restriction from some hosts? 
• Why would a host restrict IRC?
• Does or will the chat feature also include a video chat option?

The upcoming chat system uses PHP/MySQL/AJAX (no video chat), and future solutions will feature Flash/Red5 (including audio/video chat).

We don't use on-server IRC technology for the chat solution. In the future, we may look at hosting a separate IRC server to provide a remote chat service (which is something I've done before). This should not pose a problem with any host's AUP/TOS, as a java/flash chat widget would connect directly browser->remote server without interfacing with your hosting server.

Hosts frequently forbid IRC due to the amounts of traffic and resource usage it can generate, as well as due to IRC servers having been a favorite DOS/DDOS attack target. More info at WebHostingTalk.

In either case, it's highly unlikely we would be producing anything that'd require you to set up an IRC server on your box.

Good to know Markus - thanks