[WikiEN-l] Fwd: wiki upset

Tue Jul 15 18:49:13 UTC 2003

I received this recently in my personal email
(I have further comments below):

----- Forwarded message -----
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 22:04:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: _KhlER3L <_khl at heh.ca>
X-X-Sender: _khl at tornado.he.net
To: toby at math.ucr.edu
Subject: wiki upset

Hello toby,

I'm sorry to email this to you since it has nothing to do with you, but
finding contact information for the person I actually want to talk to
seems to be impossible.

This evening, I fell upon Wikipedia for the first time in maybe a year,
and began to make some edits I thought useful.  The first of which was to
add to the [[gay]] definition a note that gay could only be used to
describe androphiles, and not pederasts.  I admit this was a smarmy
entry, but it was not offensive, and it contained links to additional
information.

My next entry was http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILGA_Purges
which attempted to outline, via a chronology, the events which lead upto
the purges of minority groups from the International Gay and Lesbian
Association.  Admittedly, it ended on a bitter note.  However, the bulk of
the entry, some 10 or 15 paragraphs, were neutral and informative.

I then added a page on 'pederast', which said 'A man who is sexually
attracted to boys aged 12-18.'

I then edited the NAMBLA page to remove the name of an individual, as well
as make the wording more neutral.  I went on to read and respond to a
'discuss this page' entry which described NAMBLA as a COINTELPRO operation
of the government in order to discredit the gay movement.

I finally went to edit a user page, _KhlER3L.  When I went to save it, I
found out I was IP banned:

User is blocked

>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Your user name or IP address has been blocked by Jtdirl. The reason given
is this:
This user is almost certainly DW again. He is revisiting paedophile and
pederast links he added or edited again before his last banning and is
from the same IP as he once used before.

You may contact Jtdirl or one of the other administrators to discuss the
block.

Return to Main Page.

Well, for his/her information, I am not 'DW'
and I do not appreciate being IP banned simply for 'revisting paedophile
and pederast links' (as if it were a crime).  I think that if I feel that
the Wikipedia does not offer the right balance of information on these
topics, then I should be free to add my information.  Apparently Jtdirl
does not appreciate anyone espousing a believe contrary to his/her own
about NAMBLA, pederasty and pedophlia, even though he/she is in no way an
expert on such matters, having a PhD in Irish History.

Maybe in his/her
expert opinion, the NAMBLA information page should be used to attack a
particular individual by name?  I didn't think so, and edited the
name out.  And I also felt that encyclopedic entries should not
contain a totality of anti- views, but also attempt to be somewhat
neutral.

And the Wikipedia doesn't have an entry for pederast, but instead forwards
pederasty to pedophilia, a totally wrong attribution.  My pederast entry
has been removed, probably by Jtdirl.  Why is a truthful, and
to-the-point, no-bullshit entry being deleted?  I think I know the answer.

As well, my ILGA Purges entry, which contained about 15 paragraphs
detailing the build up and aftermath of the ILGA Purges, was deleted
entirely.  Again, I think I know the reason why.

Anyway, this ban goes against the rule of IP blocking which states:

<i>This is meant solely to discourage persistent junk edits. IP banning is
not meant to be used against unpopular opinions.</i>

My contributions were not junk edits, or attempts to disrupt the Wikipedia
service.  They were attempts at rectifying what I view as biased entries
which serve mainly to attack minority groups and organizations without
giving another perspective.

I ask that my IP be unbanned at the earliest possible moment, and that
Jtdirl be reprimanded for unfairly banning a contributer based soley on
the topic of the content he was offering.  Maybe Jtdirl should stop being
the pedophile-content cop and keep to topics he/she has something to
contribute to.

Thank you, Toby, for looking over this.  Please get back to me on whether
or not Wikipedia will be reinstating my access.

Sincerely,
Jason Garrison

_KhlER3L at heh.ca
(514) 495-1421
Montreal, Quebec
http://heh.ca/
----- End forwarded message -----

Note that both <heh.ca> and <tornado.he.net> (also in Received: headers)
are in the 64.62.xxx.xxx IP range, the same range as the blocked IP.
This IP edited a few articles, some with prior POV problems;
and some of his edits introduced further POV problems.
But this is understandable if the user is new, and correctable.
Thus the question is whether Jtdirl's identification of him as DW is fair.
I'm not very familiar with DW, so I'm not a good judge of this;
I ask other users that are familiar with DW to review the case.

I sent _KhlER3L a reply briefly explaining the situation with DW,
and assuring him that Jtdirl's actions were motivated by those problems,
not by any desire to be "the pedophile-content cop".
I can post this email and _KhlER3L's further replies if you like.

-- Toby