When a question is protected, it gets a placard below it detailing what "Protected Question" means:
This question is protected to prevent "thanks!", "me too!", or spam answers by new users. To answer it, you must have earned at least 10 reputation on this site.
While it is true that it mentions you have to earn at least 10 reputation on this site, it's a little unclear what that means, considering there's the caveat listed here. That is, association bonuses don't count. You have to actually earn 10 rep for this account while using this account.
My request is to simply add some clarification, like:
This question is protected to prevent "thanks!", "me too!", or spam answers by new users. To answer it, you must have earned at least 10 reputation on this site (association bonuses don't count).
EDIT: The dupe target is just a discussion question about the topic; mine is an explicit feature request calling for action from the developers. This is enough differentiation to remain open.
