[Wikipedia-l] Trolling

[Michael R. Irwin]

Toby Bartels wrote:
> 
> mirwin wrote in part:
> 
> >Is this an unknown "troll" attempting to fan the flames of
> >local controversy or is this actually Mr. Sanger (perhaps unwisely)
> >using an old account at Bomis?
> 
> I always thought that it was silly when people put disclaimers in their sig:
> "The views expressed are mine alone and not those of my ISP.".
> I mean, who would ever think that an entity was supporting a view
> just because it appeared after the @ in an address or in a Received: header?
> But perhaps these disclaimers are necessary after all.
> 

A lot of people use mail accounts for both business and
personal purposes.  Sometimes clarification of the specific
role in which they are acting or who they are representing
is useful.  Sometimes it is customary and a matter of courtesy.
Sometimes it is mandatory.

Mr. Sanger used to be employed fulltime by Bomis and played
a lead role in the early establishment of Wikipedia as a
"founder" and as an "editor-in-chief".   I have the impression from
various email reviewed and events witnessed upon Wikipedia
and meta.wikipedia that he also got drawn occasionally into
the role of a community "enforcer".

Mr. Wales has now stepped into an "enforcer" role by default
as the owner since Mr. Sanger left fulltime employment with Bomis.
This is documented in various places on meta.wikipedia, wikipedia,
and the archives of this mailing list.

It would be useful to me to know what role the person using 
Mr. Sanger's Nupedia account to send private inflammatory 
emails thinks they are acting in and that person's actual identity.
If it is Mr. Sanger then his credibility and reputation is 
diminished with me and perhaps with the community, now that I have
chosen to publish it to the mailing list. If it is not Mr. Sanger,
then there may be an issue of security or integrity failure
within the Bomis workforce or the within the community which has access
to the Bomis network beyond sending email through the list servers.

Have other people participating at Wikipedia, and still here
obviously, encountered this type of behavior from Mr. Sanger's
email account?   Was the behavior encouraged by other members
of the community to drive off unpopular people or unpopular
viewpoints?

To summarize some of the issues:  

Does Mr. Sanger think he has the widespread 
support of the Wikipedia community in attempting to incite me 
or is this merely personal recreation?

Is this actually Mr. Sanger or is it someone attempting to 
discredit him and/or the Wikipedia community?

Is this a misguided attempt to drive off an unpopular viewpoint
or questions rather than address them via the community discussion
forums?

If a security breach is in progress (someone unknown has logged
into Mr. Sanger's account and used it without regard (or with malicious
intent) for Bomis, Nupedia, Wikipedia and Mr. Sanger's reputation and 
credibility) has it been initiated by someone within the community or 
an external agent?

regards,
mirwin