2008/12/26 John Reaves johnreaveswp@gmail.com:
So it comes down to whether or not we care more about a positive PR image or being able to maintain an encyclopedia without disruption and harassment from one of the biggest idiots we've ever had? I know what my choice would be...
I'm describing how this has been done in the past and why. PR isn't the reason, it's a consideration.
I predict that such an ISP-wide block as we're describing here would go block, unblock, block, unblock x10, stop at unblock, arbitration, trout slaps and desysops all round for idiot blocking and wheel warring. Though it might shake loose the lower decile of admins. (That's an unintended side benefit, not a reason to do it either.)
The reason the wheel of fat would stop at "unblock" is that the secret of blocks on Wikipedia is: they're just minor speed humps; you can't keep someone from editing if they *really* want to without shutting down the wiki. That's what "soft security" means and that's why we use it. Would your average reader or even editor know who the hell Grawp is in this context? No, they wouldn't. (They wouldn't because quite a few people work hard to make it that way, but nevertheless.)
There's no point disrupting editing for large chunks of Verizon because this would just cause Grawp to go elsewhere. We're talking about someone who's clearly pathologically dedicated to this task.
There is no cure for vandalism on Wikipedia while humans are humans.
- d.