View source for Channel Takeover Policy

The channel takeover policy was created in cases where the founder of a channel has left for an extended period of time, so that one of said channel's staff may take ownership before the channel would have been dropped.

==Leave==
Founders can apply for leave for up to 60 days, protecting the channel from takeovers (but not from expiry due to channel access list inactivity). Leave for over 60 days will be approved on a case-by-case basis.

==Claim rules==
Assuming leave was not applied for if the founder has not identified to any of the nicks in the founder's nick group for over:

===30 days===
After 30 days the successor, if any, can take over the channel.

===45 days=== 

After 45 days anyone

* has op-equivalent access (AOP on xOP, 'o' or 'O' on FLAGS, an access level high enough for autoop on ACCESS) or higher;

can claim the channel, provided that the successor, if any:

* passes up the foundership;
* has not identified to any of the nicks in the successor's nick group for over 45 days; or,
* isn't reachable (i.e. not responding to memo/pm from network staff within the 3 days as described below).

After the initial claim, there will be a 3-day period of claiming. At the end of the period, if

* the founder identified to any of the nicks in the founder's nick group during the 3-day period, no action will be taken;
* Only one user claimed, the channel will be given to her/him;
* there are multiple claimers, it will be given to the highest access claimer;
* there are multiple claimers with the same access, they will have an additional 2-day period to work out who should get the channel. If no agreement is reached, no action will be taken, and the channel will no longer be allowed to be claimed under the same founder.

==Claiming Instructions==

===Procedure:===
# Join #chanhelp to make the claim, if eligible. Making false claims will result in being banned from the channel or even the network. If you have any questions about this policy, join #help and we will answer your questions there;
# If you are the successor and fulfill the conditions described above, you will be given the foundership on the spot;
# If you are an operator and fulfill the conditions described above, we will make a record of your claim. After 3 days, you will be either given the foundership or notified for further actions. If neither of those happens, you can assume that your claim failed unless the founder has still not appeared and has not been changed to someone else, in which case you can check your claim status in #services.

===Notes:===
# Network channels (e.g. #freenode, #chanhelp, #help) and staff channels cannot be claimed;
# Network staff reserves the right to reject any claim;
# Once the channel is claimed, the ex-founder will not be able to get it back without following this policy.