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Re: [LUG] Website locked

 

On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:12:35 +0100
Neil Williams <linux@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Most importantly, this change is not open for negotiation. I am not
> open to protest or complaint and replies of annoyance will be ignored
> - if your response is not constructive, don't send it. The abuse of a
> few have caused permanent and irrevocable harm to all; blame the
> spammers using our site to push illegal content, not me. The DCGLUG site
> is not Wikipedia, we don't have the resources to deal with automated
> abuse.

Just to note that those who caused the original abuse are continuing to
attempt to access their content and create new content and only two
genuine members were affected by the change. (Indeed, attempts are
increasing slightly.)

I think that the future for website accounts should be:

1. Join the mailing list first - or be personally known to an existing
admin.

2. Post to the mailing list using your full real name and from the same
email address as would be used for the website. A series of posts
should be required - enough to rule out "I feel lucky" hits.

3. Request an account based on the evidence in the list archive. New
accounts created with minimal privileges.

This idea *is* up for discussion - I'm open to adjustments that make it
less likely to put off genuine members without allowing any false
positives. Sorry, but the assumption has to be "guilty until proven
innocent" with regard to new accounts and spamming. "Due process" just
takes too much time and produces vast amounts of spam inside the site.

Once such requests start to come in, "authenticated users" (the lowest
level of privilege inside the site) can be given minimal permissions
(like creating new pages and editing their own pages but not being
allowed to create new books).

If this is acceptable, it can go onto the "Join DCGLUG" page, with a
short comment about why this restriction is necessary.

-- 


Neil Williams
=============
http://www.data-freedom.org/
http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/
http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/

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