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I'm a complete outsider to this thing, but saw a lot of it on WP:AN (or was it WP:ANI?). I stronly urge our dear arbitrators to accept the case, because increased stalking and tendentious editing (not just in this case) deserve a reponse from the ArbCom. -- ] <sup>]</sup> 12:51, 22 August 2006 (UTC) I'm a complete outsider to this thing, but saw a lot of it on WP:AN (or was it WP:ANI?). I stronly urge our dear arbitrators to accept the case, because increased stalking and tendentious editing (not just in this case) deserve a reponse from the ArbCom. -- ] <sup>]</sup> 12:51, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

====Statement by ]====
I'm named as a party and don't know what my expected role is. I know arbcom wants to see diffs, but I'm not currently in a position to provide them (I got hit by a car, broke some bones, and am recovering. Thanks for caring. Wasting time on Misplaced Pages personality disputes isn't a good use of my lucid hours.)

This isn't about content and it isn't really anything to do with policies (other than basic civility). It's a personailty clash dick-waving, and those with admin powers here obviously win. The whole thing smacks of elitism and treating admins like vested special contributors - violations of principle that go to the very founding of Misplaced Pages.

Here are some basics as I see it:
#Rootology has nothing to do with ED.
:#I can say that as someone who does behind the scenes work for ED. Associating WP editors with ED membership and saying it as though it's slanderous seems to have taken on a life of it's own.
#Nobody with a longstanding account here on WP was involved with the Mongo article at ED. NOBODY.
:#It's a wiki. Nobody here who is also on ED is responsible for those off-WP attacks anymore so than any editor here at WP is responsible for the Siegenthaler prank.
#Rootology saw the ED AfD, thought there was a little too much personal vengeance involved and asked folks to be objective. Ever since then he's been branded a troll and ED sycophant by Mongo, et al.
#Misplaced Pages doesn't have loyalty oaths.
:#This feels like a Joseph Heller novel. Having an account at ED should not brand people on WP as traitors. There are people who are admins on both wikis (omg! find them out and execute them.).
#Mongo has been uncivil in his dealings about this issue because of his personal stake. He'd have no problem getting other admins to do any administrative work necessary if he brought it to them. Several other admins have asked him to chill out and let other people handle it. He hasn't dis-involved himself and in the heat of it has said accusatory and inflammatory things at many long-established WP editors.
#Mongo has a few "cronies".
:#No big deal, we all do. Except their role seems to have been to inflame this personality dispute rather than get people to cool off. (Just view the statements here by Cyde, Hipocrite and Zoe and the wide brush they tar anyone who opposes them with.)
#Is Rootology wiki-stalking Mongo? Don't know, don't care, and rather doubt it.
#Is Mongo being threatening and uncivil to Rootology (and others)? Absolutely.
#Is Mongo rogue? Not really.
:# - but no admin should turn around and claim harassment for someone daring to question their actions. As a principle any admin action should be transparent and the admin should be able to justify it. 90% of Mongo's admin actions are probably fine, great, good job. But the other 10% are questionable, and the community should be able to ask questions about them without being accused of harassment.
:#Specifically ]: Nobody has shown any involvement with anything except a single user-subpage copied from ED. I don't see what is so offensive about a page an some other server that mostly consists of WP diffs, but whatever. The user doesn't deserve to be permanently banned with their userpages protected to prevent them from making an appeal of the ban based on the whim ("my guess") of a single admin.

Misplaced Pages is one of the largest and most visible websites on the planet. It may be the largest site that encourages user involvement. There has been major press critical of Misplaced Pages as a whole but I don't think it will take too long before some media looks deeper and takes notice of WP day-to-day administrative action. This massive personality flameout started because some anonymous wiki editor at a minor site like ED called Mongo schoolyard names. Is this really the appropriate reaction to a minor site? If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Admins that edit controversial subjects and take controversial actions against opponents should be able to handle off-site criticism of their actions without getting their panties in a knot. It won't be long before a major news site does a piece about the "inner workings" of WP - what experience do we want them to have?

:] 00:18, 23 August 2006 (UTC)


==== Clerk notes ==== ==== Clerk notes ====

Revision as of 00:18, 23 August 2006

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A request for arbitration is the last step of dispute resolution. Before requesting arbitration, please review other avenues you should take. If you do not follow any of these routes, it is highly likely that your request will be rejected. If all other steps have failed, and you see no reasonable chance that the matter can be resolved in another manner, you may request that it be decided by the Arbitration Committee (ArbCom).

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Under the Current requests section below:

  • Click the "" tab on the right of the screen appearing above the section break line;
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Current requests

Rainbow Gathering

Initiated by Oceankat at 17:36, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Involved parties

  • I will post on the user's talk pages as well as the Rainbow Gathering discussion page.
  • There is an unresolved disagreement and edit war occuring over the additions of several gatherings by to the list of National/Annual Rainbow Gatherings.

Statement by oceankat

  • Several gatherings have been added to the list of National/Annual Rainbow Gatherings by Lookingheart (talk · contribs). Lookingheart (talk · contribs) has stated in discussion that next year he intends to add more. Most of my attempts at discussion before informal mediation were ignored by lookingheart as well as most of my posts during informal mediation. Lookingheart refused formal mediation. Without arbitration I see no way to end this edit war. These gatherings are not National but small local gatherings. The National Gatherings have 10,000 to 25,000 people in attendance, Lookiingheart's additions have maybe 200. There have been several hundred similar and larger local, regional, or alternative gatherings over the last 34 years. These rainbow gatherings, which have been called "a gathering of the tribes" or AGOTT or among the newest and the smallest of the expansions or alternatives. I could easily list over a hundred on the east coast that have been in existance far longer than AGOTT and have the same or much greater attendance. I'm sure those on the west coast could list twice that. If lookingheart's gatherings are listed then any equavalent gathering can be listed and eventually would be. Every little local gathering of 25 people as well as gatherings that have never happened before with no reasonable expectation that it even will occur. Often on rainbow calanders people would list gatherings that were only a wish and a dream but the energy never manifested to pull it off. The article would be flooded with trivia as well as non-factual information, ie. gatherings listed that will not occur. I have seen no independant verification of these gatherings. No newspaper articles. No discussion on rainbow websites with reports from the gathering. While its rumored maybe 200 people were at the Mossouri AGOTT, I have no rumors at all about the WV AGOTT lookingheart listed and all requests for information before and during informal mediation were ignored. I can't with any assurance state that the gathering even occured or that anyone besides the few focalizers showed up. The WV AGOTT was clearly in violation of wikipedia guidelines concerning the posting of future events. In my opinion, no alternative gatherings should be listed, not even the florida annual which has had annual gatherings for over 20 years. None are sufficiently notable and the difficulty of manufacturing a standard to include some and exclude others is nearly impossible. Yet if we were to craft a standard any standard for inclusion would have to exclude AGOTT as it is the among the smallest and newest of the expansions and any standard that included it would include all gatherings that have ever occured or will occur. Oceankat 18:48, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by party 2

(Please limit your statement to 500 words. Overlong statements may be removed without warning by clerks or arbitrators and replaced by much shorter summaries. Remember to sign and date your statement.)

Clerk notes

(This area is used for notes by non-recused clerks.)

Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (0/0/0/0)



Rootology, MONGO

Initiated by rootology (T) at 21:57, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Involved parties

Confirmation that all parties are aware of the request
Confirmation that other steps in dispute resolution have been tried

Please see the below sections, especially the Timeline of Wikistalking Accusations, where I have asked him for clarification (largely unsuccessfully).

My apologies for filing an overlong initial request (trimmed at Tony's request on my talk page). A summary of the unsuccesfull efforts to get clarification on this are in chronilogical order here.

My goal in filing this arbitration is for MONGO's actions and constant accusations toward me to be reviewed, especially wikistalking accusations.

(originally drafted here, if it's relevant or helpful)

Statement by Rootology

MONGO (talk · contribs), ever since an extremely bitter AfD in July 2006 (and it's fallout/appeals) has been at times civil toward me, and at other times not, but has over the past month (August 2006) begun to accuse me of Wikistalking himself and "other admins". This is distressing to me as I've been trying hard to make positive contributions toward the growth of the project and the encyclopedia. When asked to define the wikistalking, he would generally refuse to clarify or not reply at all, and I have been nervous about my editing in general due to this for fear of upsetting him, resulting in some sort of unappealable ban, and it has made my experience on Misplaced Pages since that AfD very stressful. I've tried to be nice to him--I've asked him for help and input twice on his talk page, for example--but he still persists with vague accusations of a bannable offense under WP:STALK.

I have been almost tempted to simply walk away and start over under a new name after a few months, simply so that MONGO would not know it was me, and so that I would not have to have his shadow looming over me like this. I actually DID close down my user page because of this, but decided to try again after a weekend--and his accusations and hostile tone began again. I believe this is all due to my being one of the more vocal voices that "stood up" to his stance in that AfD, and because of the fact that I don't think I'm intimidated by him--I respect admins, but I shouldn't feel intimidated. I opposed his viewpoint very firmly and stridently, under at the time what I read as policy, and in turn was attacked repeatedly during the process. I moved ahead, got on with things, and have since then worked to build Wikpedia--almost 2000+ edits in the past month alone, trying to do some positive work. But, he keeps hounding me with vague accusations, threats, and a needless attempt to have an intimidating tone.

I do not feel I should avoid any articles because he might have/been working on them, if our paths cross, simply because my presence appears to completely displease him. He's one of the more prolific editors. I have no way of knowing what is or isn't on his watchlist. I just want him to leave me completely alone at this point, not be free to try to use intimidation on me, not accuse of me any of these vague policy violations, and to let me work on Misplaced Pages in peace. As MONGO has in the past banned people simply for being things like "ED trolls", "sleeper trolls", or any other number of vague reasons, and also seems to have a habit of locking talk pages so people cannot appeal, I really would rather not have that specter hanging over me, making me think twice or thrice about every edit for the rest of my time here, worrying about displeasing him. I don't think my job should be to please an admin, but to build an encyclopedia. He's making it hard, unenjoyable and stressful to do that at this point.

Statement by MONGO

Just continued efforts on the part of this editor and others to attempt to attack me since the Encyclopedia Dramatica article was deleted. My perception is that rootology, et al, have wikistalked myself and a few other admins such as Tony Sidaway since the Encyclopedia Dramatica article was nominated for deletion. There was a failed attempt to restore the article and an Rfc was filed against me which was deleted. Rootology has repeatedly fought against my attempts to protect myself from harassment, argued above that User:Weevlos should not have been blocked, when that editor was using his userspace to post the same information that was spammed to hundreds of admins via email and talkpages, and no evidence can show that Weevlos ever recieved the spam himself via wiki...my guess is that Weevlos is partly responsible for the spamming. Rootology has "shown up" whenever it is time to attack an admin, especially those that have attack articles (against their wishes I'm sure) about them at the Encyclopedia Dramatica website. Though it is difficult or impossible to prove that rootology edits Encyclopedia Dramatica, (and even if he did, that in itself is not evidence or reason for a banning unless it was proven he was attacking editors off site), his long fought battle to save the Encyclopedia Dramatica article from deletion, his concerted efforts to fight to have it restored, his active participation in the deleted Rfc against me (since I am supposedly a big part of the reason the Encyclopedia Dramatica article was deleted), his prior attempts to identify and collect information about my real IP address, his arguments with Tony Sidaway, and his active role in the most recent Kelly Martin Rfc, lead me to belive that rootology is indeed wikistalking myself and other admins that interest him. Should arbcom take this, I'll be glad to post diffs ad nauseum in the evidence section.--MONGO 22:47, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by Hipocrite

I urge ArbComm to accept this case to review the conduct of Rootology, Badlydrawnjeff and the other listed Encyclopedia Dramatica partisans. Hipocrite - «Talk» 23:42, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by User:Badlydrawnjeff

Much further evidence can be found at the deleted talk pages at Encyclopædia Dramatica, the deleted history of Encyclopedia Dramatica, and at the Misplaced Pages:Requests for comment/MONGO (second RfC), a deleted RfC that was put out concerning MONGO's behavior. I encourage arbitrators to review the deleted history of the articles in question prior to making any decisions on the matter. I also strongly request arbtirators take into account false statements made during this process. There are, and will continue to be, many. --badlydrawnjeff talk 23:26, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by David D.

This comment from MONGO in the Kelly Martin RfC did appear out of the blue. I participated on that talk page and it did seem unwarranted at the time. I have had no interaction with rootology, although I did support the deletion of the Encyclopedia Dramatica and from this perspective I would say I am neutral. I did noticed rootology was very keen to keep it alive and from memory, I would say it bordered on pestering. Nevertheless MONGO's accusations may well need to be tempered. David D. (Talk) 22:24, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by Cyde Weys

Rootology and Badlydrawnjeff are members of Encyclopedia Dramatica first, members of Misplaced Pages second. It is thus understandable where all of the wikidramatica around here is coming from. --Cyde Weys 00:52, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by TheronJ

I'm not sure if this is a good test case or not, but any additional guidance ArbCom can offer on what constitutes "wikistalking" will probably be helpful. TheronJ 22:31, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by uninvolved party Anomo

Encyclopedia Dramatica is basically a site where most people there are a hivemind. To me it is a cult. They all appear to act alike and think alike over there.

Wikistalking I believe is only against the rules if done for harassment and wikistalking is very common on wikipedia where about everyone does this. Anomo 23:12, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by Nandesuka

I was the admin who closed the Encyclopedia Dramatica AfD. This whole — dare I say it — drama has been marked by a number of parties refusing to accept community consensus. It seems to me in some sense to be a content dispute that simply won't go away. From that perspective, I'd think that it is not something that Arbcom should take on. That being said, the accusations launched both ways are serious, and I would not object to Arbcom taking this case to evaluate the behavior of all parties involved, if only for reasons of finality. Nandesuka 00:37, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by Zoe

I have to agree that rootology and badlydrawnjeff have decided to try to turn Misplaced Pages into another version of Encyclopedia Dramatica, and don't have the feel for collegiality and community that is needed for useful members of Misplaced Pages. They have harrassed MONGO since they came here, and should be sanctioned accordingly. User:Zoe|(talk) 01:59, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment by uninvolved party Grafikm_fr

I'm a complete outsider to this thing, but saw a lot of it on WP:AN (or was it WP:ANI?). I stronly urge our dear arbitrators to accept the case, because increased stalking and tendentious editing (not just in this case) deserve a reponse from the ArbCom. -- Grafikm 12:51, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by SchmuckyTheCat

I'm named as a party and don't know what my expected role is. I know arbcom wants to see diffs, but I'm not currently in a position to provide them (I got hit by a car, broke some bones, and am recovering. Thanks for caring. Wasting time on Misplaced Pages personality disputes isn't a good use of my lucid hours.)

This isn't about content and it isn't really anything to do with policies (other than basic civility). It's a personailty clash dick-waving, and those with admin powers here obviously win. The whole thing smacks of elitism and treating admins like vested special contributors - violations of principle that go to the very founding of Misplaced Pages.

Here are some basics as I see it:

  1. Rootology has nothing to do with ED.
  1. I can say that as someone who does behind the scenes work for ED. Associating WP editors with ED membership and saying it as though it's slanderous seems to have taken on a life of it's own.
  1. Nobody with a longstanding account here on WP was involved with the Mongo article at ED. NOBODY.
  1. It's a wiki. Nobody here who is also on ED is responsible for those off-WP attacks anymore so than any editor here at WP is responsible for the Siegenthaler prank.
  1. Rootology saw the ED AfD, thought there was a little too much personal vengeance involved and asked folks to be objective. Ever since then he's been branded a troll and ED sycophant by Mongo, et al.
  2. Misplaced Pages doesn't have loyalty oaths.
  1. This feels like a Joseph Heller novel. Having an account at ED should not brand people on WP as traitors. There are people who are admins on both wikis (omg! find them out and execute them.).
  1. Mongo has been uncivil in his dealings about this issue because of his personal stake. He'd have no problem getting other admins to do any administrative work necessary if he brought it to them. Several other admins have asked him to chill out and let other people handle it. He hasn't dis-involved himself and in the heat of it has said accusatory and inflammatory things at many long-established WP editors.
  2. Mongo has a few "cronies".
  1. No big deal, we all do. Except their role seems to have been to inflame this personality dispute rather than get people to cool off. (Just view the statements here by Cyde, Hipocrite and Zoe and the wide brush they tar anyone who opposes them with.)
  1. Is Rootology wiki-stalking Mongo? Don't know, don't care, and rather doubt it.
  2. Is Mongo being threatening and uncivil to Rootology (and others)? Absolutely.
  3. Is Mongo rogue? Not really.
  1. - but no admin should turn around and claim harassment for someone daring to question their actions. As a principle any admin action should be transparent and the admin should be able to justify it. 90% of Mongo's admin actions are probably fine, great, good job. But the other 10% are questionable, and the community should be able to ask questions about them without being accused of harassment.
  2. Specifically User:Weevlos: Nobody has shown any involvement with anything except a single user-subpage copied from ED. I don't see what is so offensive about a page an some other server that mostly consists of WP diffs, but whatever. The user doesn't deserve to be permanently banned with their userpages protected to prevent them from making an appeal of the ban based on the whim ("my guess") of a single admin.

Misplaced Pages is one of the largest and most visible websites on the planet. It may be the largest site that encourages user involvement. There has been major press critical of Misplaced Pages as a whole but I don't think it will take too long before some media looks deeper and takes notice of WP day-to-day administrative action. This massive personality flameout started because some anonymous wiki editor at a minor site like ED called Mongo schoolyard names. Is this really the appropriate reaction to a minor site? If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Admins that edit controversial subjects and take controversial actions against opponents should be able to handle off-site criticism of their actions without getting their panties in a knot. It won't be long before a major news site does a piece about the "inner workings" of WP - what experience do we want them to have?

SchmuckyTheCat 00:18, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Clerk notes

Recusing because someone has added me as an involved party. --Tony Sidaway 00:29, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (0/0/0/0)


Appeal by David

Initiated by David | Talk at 20:32, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Involved parties

Dbiv (talk · contribs)

This is an appeal against the ban on editing Peter Tatchell which the committee purported to impose today. For the avoidance of doubt, no other part of the judgment is being appealed.

Statement by David

The grounds of appeal are eleven in number:

  1. My contributions to the article Peter Tatchell have been overwhelmingly positive and have raised the article from near-stub status to a fairly comprehensive one which is sourced and neutral.
  2. No evidence has been presented that I have failed to work together with editors other than Irishpunktom on this article.
  3. I resigned as sysop on 20th August and there is therefore no longer any reason to believe that I will misuse rollback, as I no longer have access to it.
  4. The decision is founded on a factual error (that I used rollback on editors other than Irishpunktom who made good faith contributions). This is untrue.
  5. The decision failed to take into account a private agreement between myself and Irishpunktom which prevents disruption. (Text available on request)
  6. No evidence has been presented that I have engaged in disruptive editing generally.
  7. No temporary injunction was imposed in the case, indicating that the ArbCom knew I was editing the article properly for the period of the case.
  8. Factual errors in other parts of the case produced a biased judgment. Among these errors was the claim that I was blocked for a 3RR on 15th February, when the truth is that there was no 3RR.
  9. The arbitrators have been unable to justify, when asked, the proposed decision.
  10. The proposed decision does not have community support. I am unaware of a single non-arbitrator who has indicated their agreement.
  11. The excessive time taken by a relatively small case (a record, so far as I can tell) has produced a faulty finding.

Statement by Irishpunktom\

David and I have come to an agreement in relation to this article. As David has no history of edit warring with anyone except me, and only in respect of this article, then his Article Ban is surely unwarranted? According to WP:ARBCOM "The Arbitration Committee exists to impose binding solutions to Misplaced Pages disputes" - But, there is no longer a dispute, so this ruling not needed. Please note, I am not questioning the comittees decisions in respect of me, My additions to the article have been rather minor, wheras most of the article was created and then maintained by David.--Irishpunktom\ 15:53, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment by User:Calton

Am I the only one troubled by the phrasing ...the committee purported to impose... ? Does Dbiv doubt they did this? --Calton | Talk 04:07, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Update: I have received a rather disturbing bit of wikilawyering from User:Dbiv/David in answer to my question. --Calton | Talk 14:40, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
That is not "wikilawyering" (which is an overused term IMO). David | Talk 15:22, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
It is truly, precisely, 100% wikilawyering: a convoluted series of self-serving interpretations and logic-chopping intended as a rhetorical cudgel, used in an attempt to bypass common-sense and regular policy enforcement and justify -- or perhaps rationalize -- the arguers's actions. It treats Misplaced Pages as some sort of game with rigid boundaries, as if by picking just the right sort of strategy one can gain victory and force everyone to recognize it as such. Reality, however, intrudes.
The shorter version is that it's the mindset of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal in action: the belief that if you can't see it, then it can't see you. --Calton | Talk 23:59, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Clerk notes

(This area is used for notes by non-recused clerks.)

Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (0/2/0/0)

  • I've written a long-ish answer, but it is not an invitation to threaded discussion.
    • 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 11 are untrue (In order: You did revert others, you just choose to call them sockpuppets, and it is not founded upon that, but that you edit warred there, edit warring with Irishpunktom being very much a reason for it; that was taken into account, and as I indicated before, it was deemed insufficient, and non-binding; that is not what the absence of a temporary injunction indicates: that is what the absence of a 9-0 ruling would have indicated; semantics– you were blocked for 3RR, whether you agree it was 3RR or not; I have responded to your queries before– what you mean to say is that none have responded to your satsfaction; there is nothing abnormal about the length of time of your case, search harder).
    • 2, 3, 6, and 10 are red herrings (it is indeed your massive edit wars with Irishpunktom that were the main reason for the ban; misuse of rollback was a factor in the desysopping, edit warring, not rollback, was the reason behind the ban; indeed, you were only banned from one article; I strongly doubt that we don't have support in our ruling, but nobody else was asked, so how you can honestly conclude that is beyond me)
    • And we are left with your first point, the only one that gave me pause while making the ruling. You have made very positive additions to the article, but in light of the amount of edit warring, it is my opinion that it is in the best interest of the article and the encyclopedia for you to add your proposed changes to the talk page, and not the article, for others to evaluate and add without fear of edit warring from either you or Irishpunktom; your editing is not severely hampered. I would add that appealing a decision a day after the case was closed, and hours after violating that very ruling is not likely to lead to the desired result. Reject. Dmcdevit·t 23:47, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Reject, per Dmcdevit. The link Fred brought up in the first motion to close is also telling. Sam Korn 12:33, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

MyWikiBiz

Initiated by Cyde Weys at 14:29, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
Involved parties and confirmations
MyWikiBiz
Confirmation that other steps in dispute resolution have been tried
ArbCom is the only kind of dispute resolution that is liable to work in this instance.

MyWikiBiz (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has been writing and influencing articles on Misplaced Pages on a contract basis for pay.

Statement by Cyde Weys

MyWikiBiz is admittedly writing articles on a for-pay basis. This was noticed and he was briefly blocked and then unblocked by Jimbo after he promised that he wasn't going to do anything bad. Well, it appears that he has. Here we see him voting delete in an AFD, saying the subject of the article should have employed him if they wanted an article that should be kept. This reeks of a protection racket. He's also nominated a few other articles about businesses for deletion; one wonders if he did so because he offered to improve their articles for pay and they refused? I believe this case needs to be accepted to establish some sort of precedent about whether such an egregious conflict of interest with the core goals of the project should be tolerated. --Cyde Weys 14:29, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

More stuff to look at: Look at the deleted edits on Gregory Kohs and Gregory J. Kohs. I'm not quite sure what's going on here but User:Thekohser is self-admittedly an alternate account of "MyWikiBiz", and appears also to have been doing some suspicious business-related edits. --Cyde Weys 16:20, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by MyWikiBiz

OFFICIAL STATEMENT: I hope that the Arbitration Committee will review the entire legacy of Conflicts, of PaidEditing, of the threads at WikiEN-l and of Options (which took quite some time and effort on my part, to create a fair discussion forum), and weigh the effort and thoughtfulness of those discussions against the three-word reply of "Absolutely unacceptable, sorry" by Jimbo Wales, regarding Conflicts. In light of that, I hope that (a) my most recent juvenile attempts at WP:POINT will be understood as a one-off spurt of activity (where I actually identified some pretty awful non-notable or spam-linked articles, but did so in the wrong way), and that (b) the ArbCom will elect to view this "case" not so much as a means to punish MyWikiBiz, but to address the larger issue of "paid editing" on Misplaced Pages. The herd of horses is already out of the barn, as evidenced by the Reward Board and by PRSA article. Are Misplaced Pages admins resolved in attempting to remedy the situation one AfD, one block, and one IP ban at a time? If so, then Misplaced Pages admins will have a ton of arduous work before them, and the prejudice against MyWikiBiz is going to be insurmountable, anyway, and this "statement" will have been just more wasted time. -- MyWikiBiz 15:40, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

(posted on behalf of MyWikiBiz --Deathphoenix ʕ 15:47, 22 August 2006 (UTC))

Outside statement by Doc

Jimbo has had some discussion with this editor/firm, and allowed them to edit. That's fine. (I might quibble but his word is final). However, it appears that the editor has breached the guidelines Jimbo set. Further, the conflict of interests means that we shouldn't quite treat this user like any private individual. Since Jimbo is involved, it is difficult for the community to make decisions here. This is new territory. I suggest arbcom accept this case, and confer with Jimbo to firmly establish what is and is not acceptable in these cases. This clearly won't be the last issue like this, so some precedents may be useful here. --Doc 15:47, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment by Thatcher131

"You should have used MyWikiBiz" might be an acceptable slogan in commercial advertising but is highly inappropriate on Misplaced Pages. In additional to the commercial implications, having a paid writer !voting to delete articles about non-clients is an unacceptable conflict of interest. Thatcher131 (talk) 15:57, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by JChap

Aside from the comments in the diffs in Cyde's statements, what bothers me about this user is a pattern of participation in AfD, always with respect to business articles. In Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Norman Technologies he really went to the wall to save an article that I can only assume from the redirects in his contribution history he had written. Is he also going to be allowed to advocate for these articles? In his comments in AfD'd for articles he hasn't written he has a pattern of voting delete' and suggesting that the article could be saved when written differently or by someone unconnected to the company (hint, hint) that go even beyond these two diffs. He also nominates articles (once again, on businesses) that he hasn't written. This is a clear conflict of interest and I doubt it was what was intended when he was allowed to edit. The proper party, either ArbCom or Jimbo Wales (or both), should determine whether this user has acted appropriately in this case. JChap2007 16:16, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment by Improv

I would like to suggest that arbcom reject the case and allow an admin to simply permablock the account (or alternatively execute summary judgement and do it themselves). The purpose of the account is unacceptable and outrageous to the community -- similarly, the actions are not something that should be tolerated. This is not a troublesome-but-productive user, nor is it something that can or should go through a RFC. I don't believe there's a basis for arbitration. --Improv 16:51, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment by LinaMishima

To say that The purpose of the account is unacceptable and outrageous to the community would be wrong, as there is currently a healthy discussion on the subject at Misplaced Pages:Conflicts of interest, started by the community as a reaction to the plans of MyWikiBiz. MyWikiBiz has been fruitfully involved with this process and appears to be willing to accept any consensus reached. However there is, perhaps, an understandable, if somewhat undesirable, impatience to be allowed to get to work. I do not believe that ArbCon is the only solution that would work, however it does have to be said that the purported actions listed above are distinctly non-ethical, and as yet the community discussions on paid editing and related matters have not reached a conclusion as to how to deal with a breach of ethical guidelines. LinaMishima 23:00, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment by Phil Sandifer

I am not certain the arbcom has jurisdiction here, since an agreement was reached with Jimbo on this matter. Phil Sandifer 00:49, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment by Sam Blanning

This is partly but not just a response to Phil Sandifer's comment above. As I understand it, Jimbo's agreement with MyWikiBiz centred on the writing of articles. It did not cover comments in Articles for Deletion discussions. That said, perhaps Jimbo should be asked if he wants to try to extend the scope of his agreement with MyWikiBiz; if he doesn't want to then perhaps there is something for Arbcom.

On reflection, though, I'm not sure there is much. Looked at one way, this is a content dispute. MyWikiBiz is creating articles that some may feel should be deleted, and arguing against their deletion (as he would be expected to). That's a matter for AfD. On the other hand, he's being paid to do so. The conflict of interest there seems to be a 'foundation matter', and if Jimbo has already stepped in perhaps it is in fact beyond Arbcom. Apart from that, we have - well, nothing. As far as I'm aware, MyWikiBiz has started no edit wars over 'his' articles, made no personal attacks, made no legal threats, recreated no deleted articles... The worst we seem to have is his "Should have gone to MyWikiBiz" comment which he claims as a joke - the comment as it stood had a smiley face which has not been included in many of the instances it was quoted. Regardless, he's already apologised and accepted a week's block for it.

Essentially, an Arbcom case would seem to me to boil down to a vote on whether accounts should openly advertise that they are writing articles for money. --Sam Blanning 12:15, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment by Deathphoenix

I believe that Jimbo has jurisdiction here, but if he defers to Arbcom in this case, I would like to make the following statement.

I believe that MyWikiBiz's AfD comments were ill-advised given the sensitivity of his Misplaced Pages activities, but I do not believe these "first offense" activities deserve a long sanction. Indeed, outside of his AfD activities, I commend MyWikiBiz for being so open and honest about his Misplaced Pages activities. If every single PR firm and corporate hack were to adhere to his standards, we'd have a lot less vanity and spam articles to nominate, vote, and close in AfD. Whether the current week-long block is appropriate or not, I believe MyWikiBiz is willing to sit out the block as a lesson for a newbie-mistake. I believe he deserves another chance. I'm sure this block has already indicated how serious we take his activities, and he will be more careful with his on-Misplaced Pages activities as a result. --Deathphoenix ʕ 15:53, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment of Geo.plrd

I urge the Committee to dismiss and send this case to Jimbo as it involves interpretation of an Act of Jimbo and he has jurisdiction. Geo. 23:42, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Clerk notes

(This area is used for notes by non-recused clerks.)

Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (0/1/0/0)

  • Reject. Either Jimbo thinks his agreement has been broken, in which case it's a straightforward ban; or not, in which case I don't feel things have come to the point where we should be hearing the case. Charles Matthews 14:58, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Ackoz appeal of community ban

Initiated by Ackoz at 23:00, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Involved parties and confirmations

I request a community ban review for my case, as I think the bans on both accounts and my IP are unfair and over-strict.

Involved parties are me (usernames and IP above) and the blocking admins. I am unable to notify them about this because I was granted a conditional unblock only to edit ArbCom pages and I don't want to breach this in any way. (I posted notifications for you. Thatcher131 (talk) 15:26, 21 August 2006 (UTC))

Statement by Ackoz (original username)

I started editing wikipedia like in March 2006. I was quite busy at that time, that's why I actually started contributing more around June, I created some articles (that were well-researched and I spent a lot of time on them), also uploaded some self-made illustrations (which actually ment a lot of work to me), I joined the wikiproject medicine and took part in its collaborations. I was blocked for 3 days as a result of a heated discussion on AfD or something. Whatever lead to this block, I decided I wouldn't contribute to wikipedia anymore, used the right to vanish, as I felt that my efforts here weren't fully appreciated. I came back as an IP editor to check how the vote on Caron goes, and re-registered so that my vote would be counted. I chose a new username, Azmoc, and I admit that I did some trolling on wp talk pages since then. I would, however, like to be unblocked so I can edit articles, especially medicine-related ones from time to time. If I get unblocked, I will not post on WP project talk pages, other than wikiproject medicine. I already said this on IRC to Centrx as I requested unblock for my IP, his reaction was however extending the block from Azmoc to Ackoz, replacing the userpages with "sockpuppet warning" and changing the lenght of the IP block to 6 months. He also warned the other admins about my "clever or annoying" reasons for getting unblocked. But my reasons are clear - I would like to have the access to editing wikipedia articles, not project talk, and I think my contributions or the articles I created (Abdominal_aortic_aneurysm, Antyllus, Transfusion-associated_graft_versus_host_disease etc.) or the other edits I made could convince you that I can be beneficial to the project, if I restrain from discussing the functioning of WP. The last two trolling things I did as the IP was that I posted "I concur" and "I second that" on ANI, that's why I was blocked. I think that 1/2 admins-issued 6 months ban is too much of a punishment for something like this. I would also accept probation or something similar. PS: I would like 1 account, preferably Ackoz, to be unblocked.

Statement by JzG

User is communtiy blocked, this is the logical avenue of appeal. I request that ArbCom accept the case. Just zis Guy you know? 23:28, 20 August 2006 (UTC)


Statement by Geni

As long as the user agrees to stop the behaviour that got him blocked and agrees to stick to one account I have no objection to and unblock (would probably have done it myself if contacted).Geni 20:06, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment I will stick to 1 account, Ackoz. I didn't feel the need to contact Geni, as only Azmoc was blocked, Ackoz (my original account) wasn't and many admins knew that, for instance Zoe here but they chose not to extend the block to Ackoz, maybe because I was maybe disrupting a little, but not that seriously. Then I posted "I concur" and "I second that" at ANI, was IP blocked for that, and after I requested an unblock over the IRC, User:Centrx actually didn't reply to me (he only asked me if I was Ackoz too), just extended the block to include Ackoz, replaced the pages with sockpuppet warnings and prolonged the IP block to 6 months. It was like I did something to him. However, I admit my fault, I was trolling, and the truth is, even after how Centrx behaved, I don't want to interact so much with the others on WP. I just want to have access to editing the articles that I have interest in, i.e. medical articles, Czech history articles etc. If I see something controversial, I will just back off, I am not keen on interacting with these community members anymore. Ackoz 21:04, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
To explain, I didn't mean to say that the members of this community are that bad. I just can't handle it sometimes, it's causing me too much of a stress. Then I react by trolling etc. But I will try not discussing the functioning of WP anymore and that should prevent the stress. Ackoz 22:52, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by Centrx

I first encountered this person after he complained on IRC for about an hour asking to be unblocked. Seeing that he had repeatedly made disruptive comments, had made no actual contributions for two months, and had previously been blocked by 8 different administrators (, , ) for various disruptive behavior, I extended the block to username Ackoz (talkcontribs). The latest blocks by other admins were indefinite for Azmoc (talkcontribs) and 1 month for the IP, the short block for the IP being under the impression that it was not static, as he had falsely placed a "dynamic IP" notice on the IP talk page right after the first IP block, when it has been this person and only this person since April, as clearly indicated by its interest in Caron, Expulsion of Germans after World War II, and User:Ackoz; there was also "archiving" of the IP talk page. In addition to the long history of blocks culminating in a ban, he has made no contributions to Misplaced Pages for 2 months. Aside from his lengthy complaints on ANI and proposals to change the blocking policy, he has been attacking other users, spamming talk pages encouraging people to leave Misplaced Pages, and threatening vandalism (e.g.: , , , , , ). I am not inclined to believe that this person being away from Misplaced Pages would be a bad thing, and his red-herring comments here do not lead me to think that he recognizes why he was blocked all these times. If Ackoz (talk · contribs) were to be unblocked, the IP should be blocked anon. only & account creation blocked to ensure confinement to one account, and the user should be confined to articles and article-related activities, prohibited from commenting on administrative actions and policy, in general and specifically on administrative, policy, and user talk pages. —Centrxtalk • 02:16, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment please provide diffs on lengthy complaints on ANI. Proposing to change the blocking policy is nothing that should be used as an argument against me, given the fact that I have 500+ edits. Some of the diffs Centrx provided here also contain non-inflammatory interaction with other users (me: is the first head from the left you? cyde:yes), so I don't know why he put them here. Accusations of false-dynamic IP tag: I really believed that the IP might change if the router is reset. We have this connection here that is shared over an ADSL router. We don't pay the extra for a static IP, but I assume that it's semi-static somehow if it didn't change. I also checked the whois for my IP and it seemed to me that the IPs are given randomly from a pool. Whatever, Centrx accusing me of the crime of archiving the talk page is nonsensical, as archiving is allowed, and understandable as I believed that the IP is dynamic. Ackoz 08:29, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
These are some of the most legitimate things you have been doing, that is, looking for pictures of an admin who blocked you and complaining about your block using alternate accounts. Also, please note the lead text of this page: "This is not a page for discussion"; I don't think responding to every comment is appropriate. —Centrxtalk • 18:41, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by Mark

As far as I can recall, my only involvement with this user was to temporarily block him/her for personal attacks and trollish, offensive behaviour. That block (had it not been lengthened by other administrators) would have long expired by now, so my opinion as to whether this user should continue to be blocked is mostly irrelevant. Obviously, I encourage ArbCom to accept and review this block.

If he or she is to be unblocked, however, then I strongly encourage some form of probation or mentorship be instituted. - Mark 03:51, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment I would be happy to accept probation or mentorship. Ackoz 08:35, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Clerk notes

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Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (1/0/0/0)


Image:Nasrallah and khamenei.jpg

Initiated by Patchouli at 11:22, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Involved parties

As first party, you may feel tempted to add a summary here. If you do, make it a single sentence of not more than twenty words. Please make your case in your statement.

Statement by party 1

I and others have given a thorough explanation for the licensing of ]. Kaaveh and Tmorton166(Review me) have elucidated on the copyright of the picture. Yet there are a few editors who can never be appeased with the licensing and wish to delete the picture as soon as possible.

The only solution here is arbitration for issuing a decree. Please see the image page, its talk, and history, and finally give a directive. I will abide by it. Hopefully, there will be a convincing reasoning with the decision.--Patchouli 11:28, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by party 2

(Please limit your statement to 500 words. Overlong statements may be removed without warning by clerks or arbitrators and replaced by much shorter summaries. Remember to sign and date your statement.)

Statement by Tmorton166

I originally helped with the copyright tagging of this article as fair use - which I believe it is. However there is no specific source from MEHR news (the source) that allows for the image to be used - as has been indicated by the original uploader. Despite the lack of this link I don't believe that the image no longer qualifies for fair use, seeing as the source is noted (although not linked to) I think the disputing of the image sourcing was a little unfair.

Howevewr I also think that this case should be rejected, the involved parties have not tried any other dispute resolution process and have not even tried talking it out on the image talk page. --Errant Tmorton166(Review me) 11:39, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Clerk notes

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Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (0/1/0/0)


Jgp

Initiated by Dionyseus at 09:16, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Involved parties

Confirmation that all parties are aware of the request

Confirmation that other steps in dispute resolution have been tried

Statement by User:Dionyseus

Jgp has continually attacked me personally. I'm not taking anymore of his attacks and I want him banned for an appropiate length of time for his attacks.

It all started on July 9, 2006 when Jgp assumed bad faith by claiming that I had some agenda. On July 12 he personally attacked me by stating that whatever I say cannot be trusted. The next day he attacked me again saying that I have gone off the deep end and that anything I say is suspect. I posted a warning on his talk page asking him to stop personally attacking me, and he responded by attacking me again.

I reported JgP at WP:PAIN, unfortunately the administrator who took the case did not recognize the personal attacks, and basically gave JgP a slap on the wrist for calling me a liar. Since when is calling me a liar, claiming that anything I say cannot be trusted, claiming that anything I say is suspect, and claiming I've gone off the deep end not considered personal attacks?

JgP then decided to take a break and all was peaceful again for a month. Suddenly he returned tonight and has attacked me yet again by posting a completely ridiculous and unwarranted POV warning on my talk page. He then went on to file a 3RR violation against me, but administrator User:William_M._Connolley correctly deemed it spurious and unwarranted.

Administrator User:Alex_Bakharev intervened and thankfully removed Jgp's unwarranted warning. I believe Jgp's personal attacks and mischaracterizations against me should not go unpunished. Dionyseus 09:16, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by User:jgp

First off, there have been insufficient attempts at dispute resolution. The only admin to comment on such so-called personal attacks (over a month ago) said that "it's a bit sensitive of him to call your posts personal attacks" . Regarding the whole "you can't be trusted issue": this came after he asserted that a perfectly valid news outlet is an "unreliable" "blog", an assertion that was outright absurd, and made it hard for me to take him seriously. I don't see why this is on RfAr: if my so-called personal attacks were so egregious, then why haven't I been blocked for personal attack yet? Why hasn't he taken it to ANI? Why was he told that my comments weren't personal attacks when he reported me to WP:PAIN? There's been no RfC, no Mediation, etc. He's jumping the gun by making this an ArbCom case. However, regarding Dio's conduct, Dio has pushed his POV on The Inquirer multiple times. He has added text that can be considered defamatory ( being the most egregious). In the past, he once re-added unsourced original research that was removed and made accusations of vandalism against the person who removed the unsourced information . Some of his comments were bad enough to draw the attention of the Inquirer's founder, who called his remarks libel . The most recent incident was of him removing relevant, sourced information to a mistake published by the Inquirer: the information shows that the Inquirer's source had misquoted its source, rather than it being a mistake introduced by the Inquirer, which is a very important difference. His removal of that information was POV, and thus he deserved the warning. jgp C 09:42, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Statement by User:Danielpi

I would point out, with relevance to my current arbitration case with User:Dionyseus that this is yet more evidence of his pattern of wikilawyering and POV pushing. He has established further history of such conduct since began. I would certainly appreciate another look into his pattern of wiki abuses, as there do exist a substantial number. Thanks. Danny Pi 12:55, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Clerk notes

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Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (0/2/0/0)


Requests for clarification

Requests for clarification from the Committee on matters related to the Arbitration process.

Internal spamming/campaigning

There's an ongoing discussion at WP:SPAM about what constitutes acceptable talk page contact between users regarding discussions, votes, polls, etc. Prior rulings that have been pointed to are this prior ruling and this one. Could you offer any more specific information about what is and is not allowed/discouraged, for example: is it the use of mass userbox messaging that is disallowed (if it is), or is internal spamming/campaigning disallowed only if disruptive? Thanks. IronDuke 17:48, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Briefly, I think a reasonable amount of communication about issues is fine. Aggressive propaganda campaigns are not. The difference lies in the disruption involved. If what is happening is getting everyone upset then it is a problem. Often the dividing line is crossed when you are contacting a number of people who do not ordinarily edit the disputed article. Fred Bauder 16:58, 4 August 2006 (UTC)


Zeq wikistalking and block count

I've been having a difficult time applying arbitration enforcement for Zeq and feel I have since been targetted by him. For example, after I blocked Kelly Martin for her B-list attack page, Zeq just happens to come along so as to caution me from blocking a user with whom you have a dispute" (what dispute? he fails to mention). Or, after removing and protecting the attack page by Sarasto777, Zeq just happens to come along, again. These are not isolated examples. Then today, Zeq questions my administrative compotence and speaks of an "edit conflict" after I delete his copyvio entry, twice. Many blocks later, how should I proceed with the tendencious edits by the user? Should I implement Misplaced Pages:Requests_for_arbitration/Zeq#Enforcement_by_block next time — it will be the 6th block. Or will it? I am inclined to count article bans as blocks, and am seeking clarification as to this approach, and Zeq's conduct overall as illustrated above. Thanks in advance. El_C 13:26, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Please do take the time to examine this request's threaded dialogue (it was removed without an accompanying diff being cited). Thanks. El_C 14:33, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Moby Dick's article ban - projectspace?

"Moby Dick is banned from editing articles which concern Turkey or Kurdish issues." Does this include Articles for Deletion discussions related to those issues? Cool Cat believes the diff above is part of a pattern of harrassment on AfDs, according to a post of his on the admins' incidents noticeboard. The simplest way to sort this out in my view would be to confirm whether his article ban does or should cover projectspace pages. --Sam Blanning 12:32, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

I'd like to clarify my reasoning. While one keep vote does not constitute as stalking, Moby Dick's continuing pattern of behaviour does.
The pattern of behaviour presented in the Arbitration cases evidence page is in my view continuing for one and a half years now. Two arbitration cases have been filed over the issue. Now those arbitration hearings need to be enforced.
--Cat out 14:24, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
Yes, the ambiguous term "article" is to cover all namespaces. Sam Korn 22:34, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Motions in prior cases

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