[WikiEN-l] Registration system and blocks

[Nicholas Knight]

Abe Sokolov wrote:
> A user keeps on getting blocked but returns with returns with one new 
> sockpuppet after another. He wrote on my page:
> 
> Hey, it's not my fault wikipedia doesn't have a registration system that 
> requires input of an actual email address. Haha.
> 
> He's right... Why don't we have one?

Because, as has been discussed many, many, MANY times, such a system 
would inconvenience legitimate contributors while having absolutely no 
effect on determined vandals.

Do you know how many perfectly valid, functional email addresses I have? 
35 active at the moment. I could have as many as I want. I could create 
millions of addresses if I wished, the only limit being system storage 
and RAM. Anyone with less than US$7 and an internet connection that 
gives them a world-routable IP address can have all the email addresses 
they could possibly want. They wouldn't be particularly reliable, but 
they're plenty good enough for getting around any system Wikipedia could 
institute.

Having a valid email address -- or thousands -- means nothing, and 
registration systems that rely on verifying email addresses to prevent 
abuse are inherently broken.