On 7/21/08, Charles Fulton mackensen@gmail.com wrote:
You can interpret it however you like. I'm sitting here staring at the conversation from March. Given that I told Lar to *do nothing* while I consulted with two other people, you could argue that I told him not to tell you, but I effectively told him to tell no one else as well ... I found myself in a bit of pickle, not the least because of the significant, pre-existing gap of trust between users.
The lack of trust in certain checkusers is the main problem here. When Kelly Martin was given checkuser, I guessed that she would eventually use it on me, because she doesn't like me, and she appeared not to care about the rules. And sure enough, she did. When Alison and Lar were given it and started posting regularly to Wikipedia Review, I guessed that one or both would checkuser me at some point, and sure enough, one of them did.
It would be good if ArbCom or the Ombudsman commission would see to it that admins do not use checkuser for no reason against people they don't like. It would be good if you would ensure that people who are regular posters to Wikipedia Review refrain from using the tool against editors who are attacked, cyberstalked, and defamed there.
But this is so obvious, and such common sense, that the very fact that I'm having to suggest it shows how hopeless the situation is.
The primary role of the ombudsman is to review the release of private data. Given that no such release had occurred or appeared to be pending, I was not acting in that role.
You posted on AN/I that Lar had not told anyone about the check, yet you knew he had told his wife, another Wikipedian, and had done so without Wikitumnus's consent (which WT would not have given). You have aided Lar in this from the very beginning, and have done your best to help him cover his tracks. You even gave the impression on AN/I that the Ombudsman Commission had looked into this, which it did not.
The point, Charles, which seems to escape you, is that people on the Ombudsman commission are meant to be neutral and disinterested, so that editors trust them. If you care about that lack of trust, I hope you'll give your place to someone else.