The bit "except you can't really, and if you do it'll get randomly
revoked" is false or unproven. Is there any example of rejected or
revoked global IP-exempt valid application in the last few months in
which we had the policy?
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/NOP
Note that every single Tor user in all Wikimedia projects (as opposed to
just one visible guy speaking at conferences) is notified of this policy
and possibility thanks to an explanatory error message.
Nemo