[Wikipedia-l] Eric's abuse of his sysop powers

Mon Oct 20 22:55:51 UTC 2003

> BTW - this is Eric's latest threat:
> 
> I have to say at this point that a ban of Jtdirl 
> is no longer out of the question for me.
> -Eloquence 22:07, Oct 20, 2003 (UTC)

No, Erik would never do that -- no more than I would. In a moment of
anger, anyone might 'think aloud' and talk about doing something. But
that is not a threat.

Saying, "I wish Bush was dead" or even "Someone ought to kill the
president" is NOT THE SAME as an assassination threat. Sheldon Rampton's
wish that the software would give him the ability to send a million
volts through my chair is not a murder threat.

Erik and I both spoke (rashly, perhaps) of a DESIRE to temporarily block
or even permanently ban contributors who use Wikipedia in ways we didn't
like.

But Jimbo knows we wouldn't really do that. If I blocked someone whom I
shouldn't block, someone else would simply un-block him. One of the
other developers might even de-op me. There's no way Tim or Brion would
permit an abuse of power like that.

Let this thing blow over, so Jimbo can take his day off and attend that
wedding, okay?

Ed Poor