Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-08-07/Arbitration report

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The Report On Lengthy Litigation

By David Mestel, 7 August 2006

The Arbitration Committee did not open or close any cases this week.

Evidence phase

  • 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.
  • 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. Rollosmokes and others allege that CoolKatt has violated WP:POINT, WP:OWN, and WP:NLT. They also allege that he has made unfounded allegations of sockpuppetry and vandalism against themselves and other users. In response, CoolKatt denies the allegations, describing them as "slander" and "Wiki-stalking". He also accuses Crossmr of incivility, and alleges that Kramden4700 has vandalised the WWCP-TV article, and that Rekarb Bob and Buckner 1986 are sockpuppets of Kramden4700. A temporary injunction has been proposed and enacted, which bans CoolKatt from editing pages other than his own user pages and the arbitration pages for the duration of the case.

Voting phase

  • Ericsaindon2: A case involving the actions of Ericsaindon2, Coolcaesar and Will Beback. Coolcaesar claims that Ericsaindon2 has tried to insert original research, has disrupted Wikipedia, used sockpuppets, uploaded images violating copyright law, and failed to assume good faith. In response, Ericsaindon2 claims that Coolcaeser has contributed equally to the dispute, and that Will Beback has misused admin powers, in particular with incorrect and biased application of the 3RR. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies limiting Ericsaindon to one account, placing him on probation, and banning him for one year. No other arbitrators have yet voted on these proposals.
  • 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. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies placing Heqong on personal attack parole and probation, and banning him for one month for personal attacks. No other arbitrators have yet voted on these proposals.
  • His excellency: A case involving the actions of His excellency. The case involves the actions of His excellency on Islam-related talk pages. Remedies banning His excellency for four months and placing him on personal attack parole have attracted the support of two arbitrators, as has one permitting the use of "traditional Muslim usages" such as "Salem, brother" on talk pages, so long as they do not create a hostile atmosphere for non-Muslims. Consensus has not yet been reached on other proposed remedies.
  • 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. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies to the effect that the set of articles dealing with Sathya Sai Baba be merged into one or two articles, that unsourced information be removed from these, that on the application of Sathya Sai Baba or a representative (SSS108 is specifically named as acceptable for this), the main article, as well as any related articles, may be deleted by any administrator and replaced with a stub, in order to remove "poorly sourced negative information" from the articles' histories, as well as a complete amnesty for Andries and SSS108 for any unreliable information they may have added in the past. However, no other arbitrators have yet voted on these proposals.
  • Eternal Equinox: A case involving Eternal Equinox. Several users complained that Eternal Equinox has been trying to claim ownership of articles with edit wars and abuse directed at those who try 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 has since returned, editing anonymously from several related IP addresses while acknowledging his or her identity. Remedies have been proposed to the effect that Eternal Equinox is placed on probation and personal attack parole for one year, and Jim62sch is "cautioned to avoid teasing or taunting sensitive users". All these proposals have so far attracted the support of two arbitrators; other remedies are split.
  • Israeli apartheid: 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. Fred Bauder has proposed findings of fact to the effect that "Israeli apartheid" is as a title inherently POV, but that Wikipedia as a whole has a slight pro-Israeli bias towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has also proposed remedies to the effect that: editors to the article are directed to engage in good-faith negotiation, or, if it fails, mediation, to determine an acceptable title; all administrators involved in the matter are admonished not to use their admin tools without prior discussion, and five named administrators are reminded to make more use of dispute resolution procedures; and editors involved in the dispute are granted amnesty for past actions, except for Zeq, who remains banned from editing the article. However, no other arbitrators have yet voted on the proposals.
  • Hunger: A case involving a dispute about articles related to The Hunger Project. One of the parties, Jcoonrod, identifies himself as John Coonrod, an executive with that organization. The dispute has been in mediation about how and whether to include unflattering material about the organization in the article. Fred Bauder has presented voting measures, including findings of fact relating to the dispute and remedies to the effect that the articles on The Hunger Project and Joan Holmes (a related article) may on the motion of Jcoonrod be deleted and replaced with stubs, but the remedies do not include any sanctions for any editors. No other arbitrators have yet voted on the proposals.
  • Alienus: A case involving Alienus. Users Tony Sidaway, Nandesuka, and Jossi have presented evidence in the case, noting that Alienus has been blocked 15 times, has assumed bad faith, and has been warned many times about making personal attacks, edit warring, and incivility. A measure to ban Alienus for a year for edit warring and personal attacks has the support of three arbitrators.
  • Añoranza: 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 involves the usage of terms such as "Operation Iraqi Liberation" for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Remedies banning Añoranza for a week for the disruptive way in which he went about bringing the terms to light and encouraging the parties to enter into good-faith negotiations into the matter have the support of two arbitrators; other remedies are split.
  • 8bitJake: A case involving 8bitJake. badlydrawnjeff, the initiator of the arbitration request, has asserted that 8bitJake's editing on political articles was biased, and that 8bitJake was incivil to other editors on the articles. Remedies brought by Fred Bauder, and not yet voted on by other members, would place 8bitJake and related editors on probation and ban them from articles relating to the politics of the State of Washington.
  • Dionyseus: A case involving Dionyseus and Danny Pi, and their actions on Veselin Topalov, an article on a Bulgarian chess player accused of cheating. Remedies brought by Fred Bauder and supported by SimonP, would ban Danielpi for a week for "discourtesy and personal attacks".

Motion to close

  • Iloveminun: A case brought against Minun. Evidence presented asserted that Minun and various sockpuppets violated fair use and image deletion policies by uploading copyrighted images and removing tags. If closed, remedies supported by six arbitrators limiting Minun to one account, banning him for a year for various actions (with all bans running consecutively), and placing him on probation, personal attack parole, and revert parole.
  • Pudgenet: A case brought against Pudgenet, involving a dispute between Pudgenet and -Barry-. The dispute involved pages relating to Perl, as well as Wikipedia:Wikipedians with articles. If closed, Barry would be banned indefinitely from editing Perl and its talk page, all parties would be warned, and Pudgenet placed on personal attack parole, and, by a majority of five to three, Probation for one year.
  • Irishpunktom: A case involving Irishpunktom, Karl Meier, and Dbiv. Measures to ban Irishpunktom and Dbiv from editing Peter Tatchell for one year, place Irishpunktom and Karl Meier on probation for one year, place Irishpunktom on one revert per article per week parole and place Dbiv on administrative parole for one year have the support of eight arbitrators. However, Fred Bauder has opposed the motion to close, citing an edit to the proposed decision page which has been confirmed by checkuser to be Dbiv. As a result of this, Bauder feels that the remedies for Dbiv may need to be reconsidered.
  • Saladin1970: A case involving an appeal of Saladin1970's indefinite block originally placed by Jayjg, and later by SlimVirgin. If closed, remedies (supported mostly by six arbitrators) include banning Saladin1970 for 2 years, and placing him on probation, general probation, and personal attack parole.


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