[nessence]

IRC has no such long-established functionality. You can MSG a #channel or a user and that's it. User's can't follow each other and there are no lists. These followers and lists are how twitter routes messages, not a channel.

Such a simple difference makes all the difference. In this case, enough to file a patent.

If they didn't file a patent someone else would have.

[jacques_chester]

> If they didn't file a patent someone else would have.

And Twitter would have been in a position to object it to death.