Ok ... some more answers. As it turns out you are all being redirected to a server that is now offline for some reason. I would encourage you all to connect to this server via the java applet OR mIRC or whatever other chat service you use.
ibusy.fdfnet.net and use the port 6669
As it turns out, the general fdfnet server (irc.fdfnet.net) has been eliminated because it was causing problems. Through some intensive upgrades that have been going on, that was one of the issues that they encountered and henceforth was taken offline. Now i am not exactly sure as to what really happened with it redirecting you to a bad server but that is what is happening. I would have posted sooner but my modem and ISP have been giving me problems over the past few days and i couldn't stay connected to the net for more then 2 minutes it seemed.
If you are all still experiencing problems, please send me a PM with the error you are getting (copy and paste would be the best) and i will do my best to help you diagnose it.