I admit that I didn't understand this explanation right away, so .. for people that have the same issue, this is a different version:

It would be great it someone officially associated with HN could contact the Freenode stuff (mail or maybe ask in #help first to understand what is required) to claim that channel.

In an ideal world operator permissions wouldn't be required on IRC, but ... I'm sure it won't be long before the channel will be flooded/attacked. Calling for help in #help works in some cases, but having local users that are able to intervene would be better.

Can I invoke kogir/dang to have a look at this maybe?