A copyright dispute last week led to a block that prompted the departure of one of Wikipedia's best-known administrators, RickK. In the aftermath of these events, a proposal for more flexible methods of blocking users appeared to be gaining momentum.
RickK was known as one of the Wikipedia users most active in fighting vandalism, but was also sometimes criticized for the way in which he went about it. In a dispute that escalated into a brief flurry of reverts and blocks last Monday, RickK himself was hit with a 24-hour block and decided to leave Wikipedia entirely as a result.