[WikiEN-l] RK temp-banned

Thu Oct 2 19:02:44 UTC 2003

Vicki Rosenzweig wrote:
> That power is supposed to be used only to enforce an already-existing
> ban: it was created to deal with Michael's endless aliases and can
> reasonably be used in any similar situation. It doesn't mean that any
> sysop--of whom, as you note, there are many--can exclude someone
> from Wikipedia. That way lies instability at best.

I share your concerns, but did want to add that the power is also
legitimate for sysops to use in cases of 'pure vandalism'.  It was
created to deal with Michael's endless aliases, but remember also the
infamous "MIT Vandal" who wasted an entire Saturday morning of several
people's time by logging in over and over with different usernames.

RK is different from *either* of those cases, of course, in that he's
a "made guy," in the parlance of the mob.  We know him, he's a
Wikipedian, he's one of us, not just some random ip number going
berserk.

Whatever RK may have done, it's *probably* a safe bet that he wasn't
about to go ripping through the wikipedia putting penis pictures and
profanity on various pages.

--Jimbo