[WikiEN-l] Hardblocking usernames

[Benjamin Hallert]

I've seen a lot of username blocks recently with account creation disabled
and autoblock enabled, or a combination of the two.  Some of the admins I
spoke with said they were doing this on purpose because of 'bad faith
usernames'.  As these are essentially lifetime bans from Wikipedia (my IP
address, while dynamic, lasts months at a time), I think the wording of WP:U
should be changed so it doesn't explicitly endorse this, and I'd like some
consideration to the idea of avoiding hardblocks for username violations
because of the heaviness of the action.

I've started a discussion on WP:U and on Template:UsernameHardBlocked about
aspects of this issue and would like to solicit additional input from the
community.

Nowhere else on Wikipedia do we essentially within our powers ban someone
for life on the result of a single misstep, and I don't believe we should do
it here too.

Regards,

Chairboy