An IRC network without its users is worth nothing though. Anyone can trivially spin up a new IRC network for the cost of a domain name and a VM to host it on.

An IRC network without its users is worth nothing though. Anyone can trivially spin up a new IRC network for the cost of a domain name and a VM to host it on. The hard part is getting anyone to care (and thus to use it). If you run FreeNode into the ground and cause all the users to flee, there's nothing left, just a name with negative brand value (like Enron).