WHAT IS RESTRICTED ACCESS ??

Several IRC Networks recently introduced the possibility to give 
you restricted IRC Access. When you get restricted access to IRC 
you can not perform mode changes, you will not get operator status 
(not even on your own channel) and you can not change your nickname 
without dis- and re-connecting. (Read more technical info on 
                 http://www.funet.fi/~irc/server/restricted.html)

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU HAVE RESTRICTED ACCESS ??

When you connect to a server that gives you restricted  access 
you receive a notice like: 
        Your connection is restricted!

You will see your usermode is set to +r, and you can not remove 
that. (The restriction lasts your whole IRC session) In your 
address line in your user info you will see a + (plus), - (minus) 
or = (equal) sign before your username. Like
	nick is +username@host.provider.country (real name)
	nick is -username@host.provider.country (real name)
	nick is =username@host.provider.country (real name)
(Type  /whois <your_nick>  to see your user info )

WHAT IS THE IDEA BEHIND RESTRICTED ACCESS ??

The purpose of the restricted access is to provide the IRC 
server admin more flexible tools for providing chat services. 
Traditionally IRC servers only allowed local users to log in. This 
guarantees optimal use of the IRC Network. It gives you a speedy 
connection and blocks (you and) others from using far away IRC 
servers for abusing behaviour like 'split riding' and other hacking 
attempts. With the new restrictions even far away client connections 
can be allowed at the same time as most of the traditional abuse and 
hacking attempts are disabled.

WHY AM I RESTRICTED and HOW TO FIX THIS ??

When you find yourselves restricted you are either using (1) a far 
away IRC server or (2) your connection (address) is not trusted by 
the IRC server.

(1) Try to find a more nearby IRC server that does not restrict your 
    access. Just try some servers! This is especially important when 
    you never used the server before and/or when you're new to IRC.

(2) Check out if your address is properly resolved to an IP ADDRESS 
    and not stayed an IP NUMBER.
    Krejt is t.r.vonck@wit399402.student.utwente.nl   <-- properly resolved
    Krejt is t.r.vonck@130.89.236.62                  <-- NOT resolved

When your address is not properly resolved you should first try to 
re-connect, then try to re-connect 30 minutes later and eventually 
contact your provider and tell them to fix their Domain Name Server 
(DNS). Tell them to fix the 'Reverse DNS lookup' part.