Archive for category rights
Tor configuration changes, and IP block exemption rollout
Hi all,
Just a quick note to let everybody know that in a few days I’ll be changing the TorBlock configuration to require explicit block exemption rather than merely being logged in.
While we would rather this weren’t necessary, it seems that the edits coming through tor are mostly unconstructive; and we’ve had all kinds of nasty harassment come through that way — the community feedback we asked for was overwhelmingly that the ideological benefits of allowing truly anonymous editing are outweighed by the pragmatic concerns of
harassment and vandalism.
To facilitate this, I will also be activating explicit IP block exemption on all wikis. Like on English Wikipedia and many other wikis, administrators will be able to add users to an “IP block exempt” group, which exempts its holder from IP blocks, range blocks and autoblocks, but not explicit user blocks. This is a helpful, albeit inaccessible way to defray some of the problems associated with
blocking Tor users carte blanche.
Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns or suggestions about these changes!
–
Andrew Garrett
Contract Developer
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation opting out of Phorm
After some internal discussion on whether opting out of the Phorm user-profiling system in the UK would legitimize it, we’re going ahead and requesting an opt-out for all the domains under the Wikimedia Foundation’s control:
Subject: Phorm opt-out for Wikipedia.org and related domains Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:28:11 -0700 From: Brion Vibber <brion@wikimedia.org> To: website-exclusion@webwise.com CC: private-l@lists.wikimedia.org To whom it may concern -- The Wikimedia Foundation requests that our web sites including Wikipedia.org and all related domains be excluded from scanning by the Phorm / BT Webwise system, as we consider the scanning and profiling of our visitors' behavior by a third party to be an infringement on their privacy. Here is a list of our domains which should be excluded (please exclude any and all subdomains as well): wikipedia.org wikipedia.com wikipedia.co.uk wikipedia.cz wikipedia.fr wikipedia.info wikipedia.lt wikipedia.net wikipedia.nl wikipedia.org.br mediawiki.com mediawiki.org quickipedia.net quickipedia.org toolserver.org vikipedio.com vikipedio.org wikibook.com wikibooks.com wikibooks.cz wikibooks.org wikicitaty.cz wikidata.org wikidisclosure.com wikidisclosure.org wikidruhy.cz wikifamily.com wikifamily.org wikigis.com wikigis.org wikijunior.com wikijunior.net wikijunior.org wikiknihy.cz wikimania2006.org wikimania2007.org wikimaps.com wikimaps.net wikimediacommons.co.uk wikimediacommons.de wikimediacommons.eu wikimediacommons.info wikimediacommons.mobl wikimediacommons.net wikimediacommons.org wikimedia.cz wikimediafoundation.com wikimediafoundation.net wikimediafoundation.org wikimedia.hu wikimedia.li wikimedia.lt wikimedia.org wikimedia.pl wikimedia.se wikimedia.us wikimemory.org wikimorial.com wikimorial.org wikinews.org wikipaedia.net wikipedie.cz wikiquote.com wikiquote.cz wikiquote.net wikiquote.org wikislovnik.cz wikisource.com wikisource.cz wikisource.org wikispecies.com wikispecies.cz wikispecies.net wikispecies.org wikiversity.com wikiversity.cz wikiversity.org wikiverzita.cz wikizdroje.cz wikizpravy.cz wiktionary.com wiktionary.cz wiktionary.org Thank you for your time. -- brion vibber (brion @ wikimedia.org) CTO, Wikimedia Foundation San Francisco +1 (415) 839-6885
Received autoreply:
Subject: Publisher Exclusion Request Autoreply Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:28:30 -0700 From: website-exclusion To: Brion Vibber Thank you for your submission to the Phorm website exclusion list. If there are no obvious grounds to doubt the legitimacy of the request the URL will be blocked as soon as possible, usually within 48 hours. Requests must be made by the legitimate owner of the domain. If we have questions regarding your domain Phorm may take a number of steps, including attempting to contact the domain administrator by email for confirmation of this request. If the request remains questionable and is not confirmed within 10 days, the URL will be removed from the exclusion list and an email will be sent informing you of this decision. Where applicable, please ensure that the Administrative Contact details for this domain are up to date. If you need to update them, please resubmit your request when the amended details are visible in the WhoIs database - (use a public whois service such as _http://who.godaddy.com/whoischeck.aspx_ if you are unsure it has been updated)