[Foundation-l] On the blocking of anonymous proxies

[Charles Podles]

An anonymous user posted the following on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Blocking_policy :

== Blocking anonymizer's proxies is unconstitutional ==

*'''The right to anonymous free speech is protected by the 1st
amendment of the US constitution.'''

*'''Anonymity--the ability to conceal one's identity while
communicating--enables the expression of  political ideas and the
practice of religious belief without fear of intimidation or public 
retaliation.'''

:''Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse.
Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express
critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny
of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill
of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect
unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an
intolerant society.''
:<small>Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission,
1995.</small>


Some Wikipedia members (sysops) have implemented a policy to routinely
block users that choose to post using an anonymous proxy
([[Wikipedia:Blocking_policy#Anonymous_and_open_proxies]])

These members of Wikipedia have decided to block the ability of people
to the right of anonymity giving reasons related to the need to curb
vandalism of articles.

These are not sufficient reasons to limit my liberties and the
liberties of others. The WP community is strong enough to withstand
vandalism, without resorting to these measures.

Case in point: On February 9, [[User:David.Monniaux]] blocked IP
address 168.143.113.125 (anonymizer.com), a respected and paid service
for anonymous browsing. This IP address was used by hundreds of WP
users that wanted to protect their anonymity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&target=168.143.113.125.
The steps taken by David Monniaux in blocking of that IP address have
been disputed by me.
([[Talk:French_legislation_against_cult_abuses#Controversy_with_an_anonymous_user]].

I kindly request Wikipedia editors to re-open the debate about the
right of the people to contribute to Wikipedia while protecting their
rights to free speech, and to curb sysop powers to utilize blocking
policies.

Copies of the above have been sent to:
* The Electronic Privacy Information Center http://epic.org/
* The Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.eff.org/
* The American Civil Liberties Union http://aclu.org/

 --[[User:38.119.107.72|38.119.107.72]] 23:53, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)