On 12/5/05, Kent S. Larsen II kent@lusobraz.com wrote:

At 3:36 PM +0000 12/5/05, Rob wrote:

...

By default, no it's not enforced, and that's because Wikimedia is about open editing, etc. You'll have to hack at the code to enforce email addresses.

Rob Church

Rob, I don't think that restricting editing is the reason why so many users are looking for email verification. Its more to reduce fraud and slander and increase the ability to trace who is saying what.

How can you reduce fraud and slander and increase the ability to trace who is saying what without restricting editing? If you can think of a way to do this, I'd like to hear it.

You may have seen the following horror story:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x....

Someone posted something false about someone else on the internet. At least, I think it was false. The opening paragraph seemed completely true. I don't particularly see the "horror", though.

Personally, I like the collaborative nature of mediawiki, and I have argued elsewhere that Wikipedia is so large now that it simply can't be ignored by those online (I argued this to an academic community -- many ended up accepting the fact). But the fact that an anonymous person can post a lie or misrepresentation or rumor to Wikipedia or any wiki without disclosing their identity makes it a tough sell to anyone worried about liability, let alone the quality of the information they provide. FWIW, the biggest problem that academics have with the Internet in general, and Wikipedia in particular is that it can't be verified and authenticated.

You say this as though academics in general have this problem with the Internet. That's very far from being true. The Internet certainly facilitates anonymous communication, but many if not most academics see this as a good thing.

Since it is already possible to restrict editing mediawiki to regisistered users, seems like a simple, useful thing to add authentication of the email address.

I agree. It'd be a useful feature. And according to Rob Church it's a feature already in the system. It's not the default, because mediawiki is *wiki* software, and it's not a very wiki-like thing to restrict editing.

I apologize if this is really off topic for this list -- but you kind of brought up the subject by assuming that Mischa was against 'open' editing. I don't know what his wiki is about or what his policies are, but I don't think enforcing a valid email address conflicts with 'open editing.'

Kent

I don't see how it's not obvious how enforcing a valid email address conflicts with "open editing". In one instance, anyone can edit without restriction. In the other, people can only edit after they have had someone "approve their email address". That the former is more "open" than the latter falls pretty much from the definition of openness, "Accessible to all; unrestricted as to participants". This isn't a value judgement as to whether closed or open is better. It's just a fact that wikis (at least historically) try to be as open as possible.

Anthony