Since this would be a system-wide change, not English-only, we should
discuss it over here, too.
----- Forwarded message from "Poor, Edmund W" <Edmund.W.Poor(a)abc.com>
-----
From: "Poor, Edmund W" <Edmund.W.Poor(a)abc.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2003 15:59:46 -0500
To: <wikien-l(a)wikipedia.org>
Subject: [WikiEN-l] How to ban a logged-in user (was: Wikipedia privacy)
Well, here's an idea. Give sysops emergency power to ban a logged-in user (by name),
while simultaneously blindly banning their IP address -- temporarily. And they'd be
honor bound to report the ban to the list, just as when a sysop protects a page to stop an
edit war.
For example, user:Skeezix messes up a lot of pages, so sysop BigCheese spends countless
hours cleaning up after him and finally says it's not worth it. After some discussion
on the mailing list -- or in a really urgent case, unilaterally -- the sysop presses the
magic "Ban this logged-in user" button.
Whereupon two things happen:
1. The user's account is blocked.
2. The user's IP address is blocked.
And one thing doesn't happen:
3. No user, not even a sysop, can see the blocked IP.
So if Skeezix tries to log in as user:Spreitel -- he can't because his IP is blocked.
Advantages:
* Stops the vandal cold.
* Avoids revealing IP addresses.
Disadvantages:
* Like all banning mechanisms, it could be abused.
* If the IP is shared by "innocent" parties, they also get blocked.
Ed Poor
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