Abe Sokolov wrote:
A user keeps on getting blocked but returns with
returns with one new
sockpuppet after another. He wrote on my page:
Hey, it's not my fault wikipedia doesn't have a registration system that
requires input of an actual email address. Haha.
He's right... Why don't we have one?
Because, as has been discussed many, many, MANY times, such a system
would inconvenience legitimate contributors while having absolutely no
effect on determined vandals.
Do you know how many perfectly valid, functional email addresses I have?
35 active at the moment. I could have as many as I want. I could create
millions of addresses if I wished, the only limit being system storage
and RAM. Anyone with less than US$7 and an internet connection that
gives them a world-routable IP address can have all the email addresses
they could possibly want. They wouldn't be particularly reliable, but
they're plenty good enough for getting around any system Wikipedia could
institute.
Having a valid email address -- or thousands -- means nothing, and
registration systems that rely on verifying email addresses to prevent
abuse are inherently broken.