[Foundation-l] Re: [Wikipedia-l] Expanding CheckUser permissions

Tue Apr 12 15:35:39 UTC 2005

mbecker ? (wikimb at gmail.com) [050413 01:27]:

> I feel that this tool should be rarely if ever used to find sock
> puppets. If this tool simply tells you which accounts have been used
> from which ip address this is not enough evidence to prove the use of
> "sock puppet" accounts. I for instance access Wikipedia via a machine
> which has no real ip address but rather shares a real ip address with
> several hundred machines. I know for a fact that other people on my
> network use Wikipedia, and I have no doubts that some of them will be
> browsing similar pages as me. So, while this tool might be helpful, I
> feel that it provides far too much opportunity for abuse if it were to
> be allowed to be used by the general population. Admins already block
> IPs in similar ranges when fighting "vandals" often blocking
> legitimate users. Also, this tool could and would provide a huge
> invasion of privacy by potentially removing anonymity from the use of
> Wikipedia. Please let this tool be a last resort in serious cases.

Precisely. That's why anyone using it needs to have an awareness of these
issues and proceed with extreme caution.

- d.