Staff: Admin Sysop Guide Bot Users: Owner Host Participant Spectator Similar services There are many chat networks attempting to simulate the service that was provided by the Microsoft Network, which use the "MSN Chat Control". These simulation chat networks are often referred to as "MSN Chat Clones". These are generally small chat networks, which often rely on home-made IRC servers, or IRCX servers. Many of the "MSN Chat Clones" are non-compliant and do not follow the RFC 1459 (IRC) or the "eXtensions to Internet Relay Chat" (IRCX) standards and often contain many bugs/exploits that may cause a denial of service with the MSN Chat Control. Many of the MSN Chat Clones started up directly after MSN closed its services (2006), and additional networks have continued to spring up since then. There is speculation that these chat networks may have pulled potential subscribers away from MSN Chat, ultimately bringing on the demise of MSN Subscription Chat Services. While the majority of MSN Clone Chat sites are free, most of them rely on adverts to provide a small income. In addition, some of the clones have begun to charge, or allow for donations. The legality of sites offering the MSN Chat Control has been in question for some time due to many "Clone Sites" hosting the Chat Control. The Chat Control download is publicly available by Microsoft to download at . Problems with MSN Chat There were many documented problems from users about the MSN chat function. Most were directed to the “chat host.” This was a person who would enter the chat room under the name “host”, and act accordingly regulating the room. This service was useful for controlling the room, making sure that everyone was behaving accordingly, answering users’ questions about the rooms, and other assorted tasks. While the idea of a supervisor would put a lot of users at ease, there were reported disagreements between the two with what was considered appropriate. A claim was that there were a multitude of rules which the host didn’t make clear to the users, so many people were booted out of the room for breaking a rule they weren’t aware of. Any content that was viewed as offensive or sexually explicit was immediately removed and the person who wrote it was expelled from the room. Asking other chatters to press certain keys, displaying any kind of URL, or displaying what location you