diff --git a/irc/commands/rights.py b/irc/commands/rights.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ec5489
--- /dev/null
+++ b/irc/commands/rights.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8  -*-
+
+"""
+Retrieve a list of user rights for a given username via the API.
+"""
+
+import json
+import urllib
+
+from irc.classes import BaseCommand
+
+class Rights(BaseCommand):
+    def get_hooks(self):
+        return ["msg"]
+
+    def get_help(self, command):
+        return "Retrieve a list of rights for a given username."
+
+    def check(self, data):
+        if data.is_command and data.command in ["rights", "groups", "permissions", "privileges"]:
+            return True
+        return False
+
+    def process(self, data):
+        if not data.args:
+            self.connection.reply(data, "what user do you want me to look up?")
+            return
+
+        username = ''.join(data.args)
+        rights = self.get_rights(username)
+        if rights:
+            self.connection.reply(data, "the rights for user \x0302{0}\x0301 are {1}.".format(username, ', '.join(rights)))
+        else:
+            self.connection.reply(data, "the user x0302{0}\x0301 has no rights, or does not exist.".format(username))
+
+    def get_rights(self, username):
+        params = {'action': 'query', 'format': 'json', 'list': 'users', 'usprop': 'groups'}
+        params['ususers'] = username
+        data = urllib.urlencode(params)
+        raw = urllib.urlopen("http://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php", data).read()
+        res = json.loads(raw)
+        try:
+            rights = res['query']['users'][0]['groups']
+        except KeyError:  # 'groups' not found, meaning the user does not exist
+            return None
+        try:
+            rights.remove("*")  # remove the implicit '*' group given to everyone
+        except ValueError:  # I don't expect this to happen, but if it does, be prepared
+            pass
+        return rights