On 11/12/11 10:43 PM, John Erling Blad wrote:
People stop the flame war, try to design a solution! What would avoid the problem, and still make it possible for the commons admins to do their job properly. Everybody knows they screw up from time to time, its no help if you keep yelling at them. Been there, done that, didn't help a bit.
Why did it fail this time and what can be changed that makes it less likely to fail in the future. Is there any easy quick fix, and is there any larger changes to the overall process.
It failed because:
(a) An administrator (Yann) used a script to post hundreds of deletion requests that happen to mention the word facebook, without verifying that they were in fact copied from facebook. Also, posted more than one per minute, leaving no time for examination, and without any rationale required by deletion policy.
(b) When policy was cited, Yann stated: "I see that discussion with you is quite useless."
(c) A mere 5 minutes later, another administrator (Béria Lima) deleted the file, appearing to collude with the first administrator instead of providing independent review. This second administrator has several other complaints on his Talk about not waiting 7 days to close as required by policy.
(d) Other deletion requests on the same date without comments have not been deleted. That is, folks who respond are punished.
My solution is (renumbered):
(1) Use the reviewed flag to indicate each file has had a look. Only obvious copyvio may be removed, as is policy for speedy deletion.
(2) Once reviewed, no deletion without a formal DMCA complaint, registered with the Foundation Designated Agent.
(3) Log the date of the deletion request in the database. Prevent deletion until the 7 day (configured) review time has expired.
(4) Throttle fast scripts from posting deletion requests, just as we do now with moves. No administrator exception.
(5) Add a new WORD or function that ensures an email notice is sent for users who haven't checked previous Talk changes.
(6) This email notice should be done upon setting the deletion request log and actual deletion of watched pages as well, no weekly bundling.
(7) Add an optional phone number for SMS messages instead.
(8) Link the OTRS (or something) to the SUL user for any needed verification. Keep the email address hidden in the OTRS, just as in the user database.
(9) Be able to handle diffs from outside sites, for checking that files are identical or have minor changes.
(10) Better process documentation.
(11) More stringent steward imposed penalties for violations.