On 7 Sep 2002, Adam Williamson wrote:
A simple question to those who demand Helga should be
banned...how? What
do we ban? Her username? She posts without one. Her IP address? It
changes the next time her internet connection drops, almost certainly.
Her entire domain? This catches a bunch of innocent potential Wikipedia
contributors, and she can merely relay a connection through a proxy, by
which time she's really annoyed with the continual attempts to ban (my
guess is that "ban" in the minds of some bannees would become
"censor")
her and ever more determined to post her opinions. This issue needs to
be thought out more...
I think you're coming at this from the wrong angle. If we ban her, we ban her,
and that means both the IP and probalby immediate retraction of stuff she posts
from other IPs, if it's obviously her work.
I'm sure Helga will understand the message and console herself with Wikipedia
continuing to be (in her opinion) a hopelessly biased project that does not
deserve her attention.
The problem is not figuring out how to effectively ban someone - that just
can't be done. The problem is finguring ot how let someone know they're not
wanted on Wikipedia anymore without turning them into enemies. The problem is
also that this might very well not be possible - which might in turn settle the
entire debate as to whether kooks or "good contributers" are wanted. We might
have no choice.
-- Daniel