I was thinking a bot that sits in the channel and records the last 'x' lines/minutes of chat. Then people who join could request the record using a !command. The bot could send the messages as PRIVMSG or as a file over DCC (possibly the user could choose). Obviously there would be code to prevent the command from being abused.
If the command is widely used in a channel, then there could be a script for users to download and install. The script could take the information provided by the bot (msgs or file) and actually echo it into the channel window so everything flows smoothly.
-genius_at_work
