On Nov 29, 2007 4:08 AM, Guy Chapman aka JzG guy.chapman@spamcop.net wrote:
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:45:16 +1100, "private musings" thepmaccount@gmail.com wrote:
The fact that you were 'right' about my misdeeds in no way alters the
nature
of your unethical behaviour.
No, my behaviour was ethical. I asked a few trusted friends for advice before blocking one of your accounts. That is a sane and reasonable thing to do.
Guy, I think I see where both of you are coming from, but I'd like to interrupt here with a few questions. As I understand it, Private Musings shared information about his prior accounts with you, one of which had direct ties to his real-life identity, is this correct? Is it also correct that he gave you no indication (or you had no indication) _at the time_ that one of those accounts was tied to his real identity?
I ask, because, to me, discussing PM's accounts with trusted friends is different to me than discussing someone's real life identity. The first, PM needs to understand, is about protecting the encyclopedia. And when we say, "JzG is a trusted member" that's what we mean. We trust him to do what's in the encyclopedia's best interests. They're janitors, not priests. If you tell them in confidence you plan to break into the school, they'll act on it. I'm rather glad Guy would discuss things with others before acting...it's an entirely calm and rational thing to do.
At the same time, we trust that no one need 'sacrifice' an individual's privacy for the project, which is why Checkuser is such a special and restricted role. Guy, if you knew you were in possession of PM's real-life identity and were sharing that with others, then I'm afraid I would find that "unethical" for a Wikipedia admin. For a Checkuser, that sort of thing would result in an Ombudsman investigation and likely lead to a revocation of their rights.
I haven't been following too closely, but the impression I got from the AN/I threads was that it wasn't too clear which of PM's previous accounts related to his real-life identity (or how). I honestly don't think Guy knew at the time, and probably didn't care. Because his concern wasn't about someone's real life identity but their accounts on Wikipedia and what it was doing to the project.
Makes me wonder if there's anything about anonymity and choosing account names on-wiki anywhere. Could be a good idea for a useful guideline/essay.
InkSplotch