[WikiEN-l] Registration system and blocks

Sat Dec 25 06:59:18 UTC 2004

Abe Sokolov wrote:
> To evade a block, all a vandal has to do is log off and log back on with 
> a new account. However, going through all the steps required by email 
> confirmation (consisting of signing up for a new email account, signing 
> up to Wikipedia, checking the new email account for confirmation, and 
> then logging on to Wikipedia) will take more time than the time required 
> for admins to ban the sockpuppet.

Perhaps you didn't get the point from my previous email. I can create a 
new email address in the time it takes me to type it out. I can also 
easily whip up a script that would let me automatically catch 
confirmation emails and respond appropriately without me ever seeing 
them. The entire process of creating an account on Wikipedia can be 
automated so that a new user could be created in a few seconds, email 
confirmation or not.

To summarize:

EMAIL

CONFIRMATION

DOES

NOT

HELP.

(If your next suggestion is "CAPTCHA", I have a two-word response: 
"blind people".)

Are we done now?