On 6/18/07, Anthony wikimail@inbox.org wrote:
On 6/18/07, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
On 18/06/07, Eagle 101 eagle.wikien.l@gmail.com wrote:
The primary reason for blocking proxies of any kind is to make sock
puppetry
very difficult.
Not really - the primary reason is that open proxies are overwhelmingly used for vandalism and trolling, not merely sockpuppetry (though that too).
Wikipedia attempts to do the impossible, create a site that anyone can edit except those who are banned, without placing any barriers to entry for those who aren't banned.
Proxies are banned to try to accomplish this impossible task.
Maybe I'm oversimplifying things, but that's how I see it.
I wonder what will happen to Wikipedia's block policies if IPv6 ever becomes a reality.
Range blocks would possibly to the trick, although they would be very, very, very messy.