Fred Bauder (fredbaud@ctelco.net) [041226 00:12]:
Your suggestion was appropriate and appreciated. I suspect our more technically inclined mailing list posters greatly exaggerate the ease with which the average vandal (after all, their average age must be about 8) could create numerous accounts. Our experience at Wikinfo since requiring that they at least create an account has resulted in a number of dead accounts, but still a major reduction in drop-in vandalism. (But perhaps we have lost some helpful edits too).
Vandals are a real problem, but the really persistent pains in the backside will observably go to some technical lengths to prove we can't beat 'em. It's a social problem that isn't susceptible to a quick technical fix.
- d.