IRC or Internet Relay Chat – a real-time Internet chat (communications) system that allows users from all over the world to communicate with each other. IRC consists of channels, that are usually devoted to specific topics and users can go into public or private channels to discuss a topic or transfer files. IRC is structured as a network of Internet servers (that accept connections from client programs, one per user). To join an IRC discussion, you need an IRC client (is a program that runs on your computer and sends and receives messages to and from an IRC server) to be installed on your computer. The most popular IRC client program is mIRC.