[WikiEN-l] RE: I made something like a summary

Thu Oct 2 22:24:20 UTC 2003

The summary illustrates the problem. RK was acting faster than the decision time of the mailing list. It's the reason why a temporary ban of 12 or 24 hours for something which qualifies as vandalism if done from an anonymous IP is useful. This isn't a punishment for the temporarily banned person; it's a way of stopping things from happening faster than the list members can react. It's also a usful way to cause someone to do what they should be doing when involved in a heavy dispute: take deep breath, sleep on it and come back the next day.

I suggest the following: one administrator or 3 sysops who have not previously been involved in the issue can decide to put the temporary ban in place and raise the matter on the mailing list then or as soon as the request is made. Ban lifted in 12 hours (or 24?) or if 3 people on the list say so, after reviewing the situation, not out of general dislike for bans. Ban not lifted if the list result is longer term ban.

That gives the list the greatest possible notice and cuts the potential for inappropriate use of the capability, while still letting it be used to give the list time to start to react to a rapidly developing situation.

On a different subject, RK is an interesting and tough problem. Some of the hardest choices I've had to make have been when, in dictator position with a philosophy resembling that I've seen Jimbo express here, I've had to decide that the interest of the community is best served by asking or compelling a contributor to depart because their discouraging effect on others does more harm than the good of their contributions. There's some reason to believe that this may apply for RK but the case hasn't been made yet, just claimed. This is just about the toughest decision Jimbo will have to make, so if you think RK needs to be banned for this reason, please gather the case together with a collection of specific examples for Jimbo and others to review.

OK, enough boldness for my first post to this list. I'm the user:JamesDay Alex756 has mentioned a few times in recent discussons on legal issues. Not a lawyer, just a community manager with a keen interest in online community law. More background on my user page.

James