[WikiEN-l] Re: Transition to WikiDemocracy

[Sheldon Rampton]

Imran Ghory wrote:

>Bad idea, the ease of making contributions is one of our major "pull"
>factors. Also some people don't have a non-yahoo/hotmail account.

I think Wikipedia has grown to a point where pulling in more 
contributors is less of a priority than retaining quality 
contributors and encouraging good behavior. Somehow we have to come 
to terms with the fact that contributing to Wikipedia isn't a RIGHT, 
it's a PRIVILEGE, like driving, and that as a privilege, it comes 
with responsibilities. (Specifically, the responsibility to refrain 
from abuse.) There's no way to ensure that people fulfill their 
responsibilities without some sort of identity-verification system to 
prevent people from coming back repeatedly using anonymizers and 
multiple accounts. Right now, all it takes is a few really dedicated 
assholes like Bird to put a major hurt on the Wikipedia.

>Limiting number of contribution doesn't really seem to have any
>advantages, after all if a user goes on a vandalism spree they could
>easily use multiple accounts. And having all of their "contributions"
>under one account allow for us to block them more easily.

This is precisely what requiring email verification would prevent. If 
someone has to supply a non-yahoo/hotmail account to register, they 
COULDN'T "easily use multiple accounts."

--Sheldon Rampton