Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-10-30/Arbitration report

Arbitration report

The Report On Lengthy Litigation

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

Giano: A case involving the actions of Giano, Tony Sidaway and others, in which Sidaway blocked Giano for making "inflammatory" comments regarding the behaviour of the ArbCom and the Wikimedia Foundation. The block was subsequently overturned after discussion on WP:AN/I. When closed, remedies came into effect formalising the relinquishing of sysop access by former clerk Tony Sidaway and former arbitrator Kelly Martin, but thanking her for her "long and honourable service", and reminding Jdforrester "to maintain decorum appropriate for an arbitrator".

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. As a result of the case, Pat8722 was placed on probation for one year from when he returns to Wikipedia. A motion establishing the principle of a continuance, and extending it to Pat8722 was proposed by Fred Bauder, but was defeated.

Bowling for Columbine: A case involving the actions of Schrodinger82 and others on the Bowling for Columbine article, and in particular his disputed removal of some criticism of the film.

Gundagai editors: A case involving the actions of several anon IPs (possibly operated by one person), on Gundagai-related pages.

Protecting children's privacy: A case involving a policy proposal on the Wikipedia:Protecting children's privacy page. The committee is being asked to make a ruling as to the consensus requirements for the adoption of new policy.

Ulritz: A case involving the actions of Ulritz and Rex. Rex alleges that Ulritz has engaged in a variety of disruptive behaviour, and shows a strong German nationalist bias. Various other editors allege that Rex has also engaged in a certain amount of disruption, and shows a certain Dutch nationalist bias.

Non-Notability: A case regarding actions on Wikipedia:Non-notability (not to be confused with Wikipedia:Notability).

Pseudoscience: A case involving the actions of ScienceApologist, Ian Tresman and others, involving the insertion and removal of so-called "pseudoscience" on various articles.

Jean-Thierry Boisseau: A case involving the actions of Jean-Thierry Boisseau on List of major opera composers. Various users accuse him of "a course of bullying, personal attacks, and generally making things awful for all contributors". He strenuously denies the allegations. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies banning Boisseau and others attributed with Musik Fabrik from editing articles relating to their work, and placing Boisseau on probation.

Rachel Marsden: A case involving the actions of Arthur Ellis, Rachel Marsden, Bucketsofg and others on the Rachel Marsden page. Marsden and Ellis allege that the page contains inaccurate and libellous material, and that this has been protected on the page by various admins. In response, others allege that Ellis has engaged in edit warring on the page. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies banning Arthur Ellis for one day, permitting articles relating to Rachel Marsden to be stubbified, as well as other measures.

GreekWarrior: GreekWarrior, an admitted Greek nationalist extremist, received a community ban for "repeated, blatant ethnic insults and hate speech", but, owing to what Tony Sidaway described as his "great willingness to contribute", has asked that it be lifted or restricted to a finite period. Remedies had been proposed, suspending the ban or replacing it with probation, but in the light of recent evidence of a suspected sockpuppet, a remedy imposing a year ban has been proposed and has the support of three arbitrators.

Vivaldi: A case involving the actions of Vivaldi on Jack Hyles and related articles. Arbustoo alleges that Vivaldi has removed "cited criticism" from the article, as well as harassment, incivility and edit warring. However, an anon IP, 205.157.110.11 accuses Arbustoo of removing comments from AfDs. Remedies proposed by Fred Bauder, and supported by Neutrality, would place various articles edited by Vivaldi and Arbustoo on article probation, with the intention of removing poorly sourced material, and warn both contributors against edit-warring.

Kven: A case involving the actions of Kven-user, the name given to Art Dominique and sockpuppets on the Kven article. Fred Bauder has proposed remedies, with the support of five arbitrators, limiting Kven-user to one account and placing him on probation.