Just because it has been mentioned, I would be a definite -1 on retroactive public indexing, though without indexing, I would be +1 on retroactive logging with or without a private index (local search engine, but non-permissive robots.txt). Good consequences of logging: better ability to participate for those with poor connections or occasional availability. This is a Worthwhile Goal. Indeterminate consequences of logging: people may be less willing to talk about people behind their backs; this talk could be productive or counterproductive or both. Bad consequences of logging: people's words could come back to haunt them in the sense of employment. I understand that the lurkers on the channel right now could easily be skynet and <a href="http://yourboss.com">yourboss.com</a>, but practically speaking, I doubt that the latter is really paying much attention. But if any Google snooping picks up the channel logs, that changes the practical situation seriously. Note the danger is not the whole log, just certain keywords - mainly personal and company names. So, I have two proposals: 1. Log, but exclude major search engines using robots.txt. Logging can be retroactive. 2. Log, and allow searching, but set up the logger to ignore any statements that include some "off the record" flag. (Ideally, there would be a bot, and you could tell it to go to sleep for 5 minutes, or to wake up, and it would tell you when it changed state.) This should NOT be retroactive. Obviously, either of these should be announced on the channel logon text. You could combine them, using 1 for retroactive and 2 for forward-moving logging. Either way, I would be in favor of this being done centrally, not being an individual responsibility. But not enough so to actually help doing it, sorry (that's why I don't want individual responsibility :). And this is my final word on the subject. :)