On 12/12/2007, elisabeth bauer eflebeth@googlemail.com wrote:
Maybe I should clarify here: In the german wikipedia, all checkuser requests are requested in public (other wikipedias have a similar request page). On this page the requester has to provide two things: a) evidence why a sockpuppet suspicion seems likely and b) explain why it would be an abuse of sockpuppets. By up to now unwritten policy, checkusers don't do checks in private on their own. If someone has legitimate cause (like being stalked) he can request a check by email. If such a check is made, a record on the public request page is made of it, giving as much details as possible without violating the privacy of the requester.
On en:wp, there was no public request mechanism for checkuser at all other than the checkers' user talk pages. Kelly Martin created WP:RFCU specifically to get the noise off our talk pages to somewhere we could ignore it. WP:RFCU tends to be a troll-feeding exercise in practice.
- d.