[WikiEN-l] Phone calls

[Anthony DiPierro]

On 3/14/06, Steve Bennett <stevage at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 3/14/06, geni <geniice at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Can't. They will stay within policy. Blocking won't help anyway since
> > they can't disscuss while blocked.
>
> It's a real pity that it's not possible to selectively block a single
> editor against a single page. That and the fact that blocking an IP
> also blocks registered users that use that IP.
>
> Steve

FWIW, I completely disagree.  I think blocks should be all or nothing
(certainly technical ones, but I'd include soft blocks too, though not
of course self-imposed blocks).  Besides filling the code and the
policies with unnecessary bloat, narrow blocking tends to give admins
too much power to dictate content.

If it weren't for the latter consideration, it would be really easy to
soft-block an editor from a particular page anyway.  Block them for 5
minutes with a message on their talk page to stop editing that page. 
Then block them more permanently if they ignore that command.  But IMO
admins shouldn't have that power in the first place.  All Wikipedians
should be equal (which isn't the same as saying that all people have
the right to be Wikipedians).

Now I suppose I'm breaking my rule when I say that I can understand an
exception for allowing talk on the users own talk page.  And
semi-protection/lessened powers for new contributors seems like an
acceptable solution for guarding against sockpuppets, though of course
its effectiveness is dependent on a decent implementation.

Anthony