Sheldon Rampton wrote:
I think it would also be a good idea to set some kind of limit on the number of contributions accepted per day from each anonymous IP number -- a fairly small number, such as 5. Five contributions is enough for someone to get a feel for how Wikipedia works. After that, the software should tell them to register if they want to make further contributions. This way the Wikipedia would remain inviting to newbies but would add encouragement to enter the reputation-tracking system. It wouldn't entirely stop anonymous vandalism, but it would make it more difficult and would probably eliminate most of it.
I don't think anonymous vandalism is actually a big problem, in practice. Most gets reverted quickly with relatively little effort, and persistent vandals are IP-banned (and can be IP-banned by any sysop without prior authorization). The really sticky issues seem to be problem users with accounts, especially those who are not doing simple vandalism, but are causing problems in other ways.
-Mark