[Mediawiki-l] Email approval before login

[Kent S. Larsen II]

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.

You may have seen the following horror story:

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

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.

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 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