Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-09-05/Arbitration report

Arbitration report

The Report On Lengthy Litigation

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By David Mestel

The Arbitration Committee opened one new case this week, and closed four cases.

Closed cases

Ericsaindon2: Closed on Sunday after one and a half months, a case involving the actions of Ericsaindon2, Coolcaesar and Will Beback. Coolcaesar claimed that Ericsaindon2 had tried to insert original research, had disrupted Wikipedia, used sockpuppets, uploaded images violating copyright law, and failed to assume good faith. In response, Ericsaindon2 claimed that Coolcaesar had contributed equally to the dispute, and that Will Beback had misused admin powers, in particular with incorrect and biased application of the 3RR. Ericsaindon2 was restricted to one account, banned for one year, and placed on Probation.

Israeli apartheid: Closed on Saturday after two months, a case involving the actions of editors and administrators on Allegations of Israeli apartheid (formerly at Israeli apartheid). The article was the site of a move war during a poll to determine the article's naming. Remedies were passed encouraging negotiation and mediation, admonishing administrators involved in the dispute, directing discussion of issues to Wikipedia:Central discussions/Apartheid, and granting an amnesty to all users except Zeq, who remained banned from the article.

Eternal Equinox: Closed on Wednesday after two months, a case involving Eternal Equinox. Several users complained that Eternal Equinox had been trying to claim ownership of articles with edit wars and abuse directed at those who tried to edit them. Eternal Equinox claimed to have left Wikipedia, but the other parties argued that this was not credible because of a number of similar statements made previously. Eternal Equinox had since returned, editing anonymously from several related IP addresses while acknowledging his or her identity. Eternal Equinox was placed on probation and personal attack parole, and Jim62sch was cautioned to "avoid teasing or taunting sensitive users".

Añoranza: Closed on Tuesday after two months, a case involving Añoranza. Users asserted that Añoranza had been incivil, and had filed a retaliatory request for comment and request for checkuser. The dispute involved the usage of terms such as "Operation Iraqi Liberation" for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Añoranza was banned for one week for the disruptive way in which he went about bringing the terms to light and the parties were encouraged to enter into good-faith negotiations into the matter.

New case

Ackoz: A case involving the actions and community ban of Ackoz, and his later account, Azomc. The user previously contributed to Wikipedia under the name Ackoz, but, after being banned for three days, elected to leave. After a while, he decided to return, and admits to "some trolling" since then. However, he has stated that were he unblocked, he would cease his disruptive behaviour, and would be prepared to undergo mentorship. Some administrators, however, believe that he should nonetheless remain blocked.

Evidence phase

Marudubshinki: A case involving the actions of Marudubshinki. Snottygobble, I@n and others allege that Marudubshinki has operated an unauthorised bot, and misused his sysop powers by unblocking himself and allowing his bot to delete pages. Marudubshinki has not presented a statement in his defence.

MONGO: A case involving the actions of MONGO, rootology, and others. The case centers around Encyclopædia dramatica, and an article posted on the site portraying MONGO in a negative light.

Voting phase

Ed Poor 2: A case involving Ed Poor. JoshuaZ and Consumed Crustacean have accused Poor of POV pushing and disruption; Poor has not introduced evidence in the case. Ed Poor was party to two prior cases; the first was closed after Poor resigned his status as a bureaucrat, and the second resulted in his desysopping. Fred Bauder has proposed a remedy placing him on probation, but no other arbitrators have yet commented.

Pat8722: A case involving the actions of Pat8722. BorgHunter has accused Pat8722 of edit-warring. Pat8722 has requested that the ArbCom stay the case while he pursues 6 pro se cases in the American courts, and has agreed not to edit Wikipedia in the interim. Fred Bauder has proposed a motion establishing the principle of a "continuance", and a remedy extending this to Pat8722. However, no other arbitrators have yet commented on the matter.

St Christopher: A case involving St Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine, a school whose accreditation status is in dispute, and in particular the behaviour of ParalelUni on the page. Dmcdevit has proposed remedies affirming the community ban of ParalelUni, and banning all single-purpose accounts from editing the article, which have been supported by Fred Bauder.

Kehrli: A case involving the actions of Nick Y and Kherli on Mass-to-charge ratio and related articles. Both protagonists accuse each other of POV pushing, adding unsourced information, and adding dispute tags without reason. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies banning Kehrli from articles relating to M/z, and from changing the notation m/z where found to any other notation.

Israel-Lebanon: A case involving the actions of AdamKesher, Tasc and others on 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. AdamKesher accuses Tasc of removing relevant external links which satisfy WP:EL, and he denies the allegation. In response, Denis Diderot accuses Kesher of "using Wikipedia as a tool to promote his POV". Fred Bauder has proposed remedies permitting the linking to blogs which offer contemporary comment on a current event from Wikipedia pages, cautioning all editors to use common sense above literal interpretation of Wikipedia policy, and permitting any editor "particularly Tasc", to be banned from the article for an "appropriate period" should they engage in edit warring on the issue. These proposals have yet to be commented on.

Deir Yassin massacre: A case involving the actions of KimvdLinde and Guy Montag on Deir Yassin massacre. KimvdLinde alleges that Montag has violated his probation by rewriting the article, unilaterally moving it to "Battle of Deir Yassin", violating copyright and votestacking. In return, Montag refuses "to participate in any of these proceedings", and alleges that KimvdLinde has abused her admin tools by exercising them in a dispute in which she is involved. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies banning Montag from articles relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and suggested that Montag's probation be extended. These remedies have attracted the support of three other arbitrators.

Warren Kinsella: A case involving the actions of Arthur Ellis, Pete Peters and others on the Warren Kinsella article. Both users accuse the other of disruptive edits on the page, and Peters and others acccuse Ellis of sockpuppetry using anon accounts, while Ellis alleges that administrators dealt inequitably with him and Peters. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies banning Ellis indefinitely from all articles relating to "Canadian politics and its blogosphere", and limiting him to one account. Charles Matthews has indicated his support for these proposals.

Zer0faults: A case involving the actions of Zer0faults and Nescio on Template:War on Terrorism, War on Terror and related arguments. Nescio alleges that Zer0faults has engaged in violation of WP:POINT, disruptive editing, and "uncivil remarks". In return, Zer0faults alleges that Nescio has failed to assume good faith, violated WP:POINT and WP:RS, and failed to provide explanations for his reverts. A single remedy that would place Zer0faults on probation was proposed by Fred Bauder, and has the support of three arbitrators.

Intangible: A case involving the actions of Intangible. Cberlet alleges that Intangible has used an "aggressive and confrontational" editing style to push his POV (partly through the wholesale deletion of the term "far right" from numerous pages), making sweeping edits and reverts with little or no discussion, and being "contentious and confrontational" in talk page discussions. Intangible vigorously denies the allegations. A remedy, supported by six arbitrators, would place Intangible on probation. Other remedies, proposed by Dmcdevit, and supported by two and three arbitrators respectively, but opposed by Fred Bauder, would also place Tazmaniacs and AaronS on probation.

Sathya Sai Baba: A case involving Andries and SSS108's actions on the article Sathya Sai Baba. Both have accused each other of "POV pushing", and violating Wikipedia's policy on original research. Proposed remedies that unsourced or poorly sourced information be removed from these articles, and a complete amnesty for Andries and SSS108 for any unreliable information they may have added in the past have the support of five arbitrators.

Motion to close

CoolKatt number 99999: A case involving the actions of CoolKatt number 99999 on WWOR-TV and related articles, as well as the actions of Crossmr, Kramden4700 and others. A temporary injunction has been enacted, which bans CoolKatt from editing pages other than his own user pages and the arbitration pages for the duration of the case. If closed CoolKatt would be banned from U.S. television articles for one year and placed on probation, and all of his user subpages not compliant with WP:USER would be deleted.

Heqong: A case (formerly referred to as Chiang Kai-shek) involving the actions of Heqong (formerly Chiang Kai-shek) on China and Taiwan-related articles. If closed, Heqong would be placed on personal attack parole and probation, and banned for one month for personal attacks.

His excellency: A case involving the actions of His excellency. The case involves the actions of His excellency on Islam-related talk pages. If closed, His excellency would be banned for six months, His excellency and Timothy Usher would be be placed on probation, and a remedy permitting the use of "traditional Muslim usages", such as "Salam, brother", so long as they do not create a hostile environment for non-Muslims, would be enacted.

Also this week: — Everyking desysopped — Photo debate — 1,000 administrators — Board elections — Italian Wikipedia — Press coverage — News and notes — Features and admins — Technology report — Arbitration report