I participate in cs50.SE, a network site affiliated with [a popular MOOC](https://www.edx.org/course/harvardx/harvardx-cs50x-introduction-computer-1022#.VEqkHPnF98E). Based on its [privilege thresholds](https://cs50.stackexchange.com/help/privileges) and absence from the ["all sites" list](http://stackexchange.com/sites), it seems to be classified as a private beta site.

In any case, we protected a question that had received a couple spammy answers in quick succession, and the notice reads:

> This question is protected to prevent "thanks!", "me too!", or spam
> answers by new users. To answer it, you must have earned at least 1
> [reputation][1] on this site.

From the [reputation tables in this FAQ post](https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/58587/254929), this seems to be the way it works for private betas in general. Is it possible that at some point in the past, guest posts were allowed on private betas? I couldn't find another private beta site to check, but on this site guest posts are not allowed, so protecting questions [doesn't actually impose any restriction on who can answer][2].

Here's an excerpt from the [help center entry for the privilege](https://cs50.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/protect-questions):

> ### What are protected questions?
> 
> A [protected question][3] prevents answers being added by anonymous
> and very new users.

Based on that description, this is a bug.


<sub>Here's [the specific question](https://cs50.stackexchange.com/q/1730/1448) for reference. (It's a [shopping question][4], but that's a separate issue.)</sub>


  [1]: https://cs50.stackexchange.com/help/whats-reputation
  [2]: https://i.sstatic.net/bsY0L.jpg
  [3]: https://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/06/new-protected-question-status/
  [4]: https://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/11/qa-is-hard-lets-go-shopping/