[Wikipedia-l] Re: Ban: Why Doesn't It Work?

[sgilbert at nbnet.nb.ca]

> I have wondered why is it that profilically obsessive vandals, like M and L, 
> can return again, again, and again...
<snip>

They return because they have become emotionally invested in Wikipedia.
This is an inverse of the attachment that happens to our regulars; it 
is destructive rather than constructive. Wikipedia has a history of 
making persistant troublemakers into "super-villians" with infamous 
reputations.
 
> For those vandals, are they still given a certain amount of time in hope of 
> their possible reforms?

No, those people have used up any grace they've been extended. 
The problem is that IP bans do not work on anyone with a strong 
attachment to Wikipedia and a tiny amount of technical knowledge.

Stephen G.
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Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia
http://www.wikipedia.org