If we do allow litigants to select among arbitrators that would indeed give those who are knowledgeable and experienced an advantage (like in real life) where one party choses one arbitrator the other choses one, then the two chosen choose the third. In labor disputes the union choses someone friendly to them, likewise management, then the two chosen look for someone they can both work with.
Fred
From: "Dan Drake" dd@dandrake.com Reply-To: dd@dandrake.com, English Wikipedia wikien-l@Wikipedia.org Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 22:46:34 +0000 (UTC) To: wikien-l@wikipedia.org Subject: [WikiEN-l] Re: Arbitration progress report #2
On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 02:16:55 UTC, Sean Barrett sean@epoptic.org wrote:
I question your suitability for the role of arbitrator based on your condescention towards those who want the wikipedia policies enforced.
You told me to work to have the policy changed; I tell you to work to have me removed. Jimbo appointed me; convince him to remove me. As an alternative, if a simple majority of my fellow arbiters ask me to step down, I will.
The only argument you have given against enforcing such rules is that your time is too precious.
I haven't even given that argument, and I don't intend to give any arguments. I simply refuse to be compelled to arbitrate the way you think I should. ...
I assume that the arbitration process, like any other that I can think of, will allow some choice to the arbitrees in the selection of arbitrators. This raises an interesting question: the built-in advantage of people who have participated in Wikipedia for a while over the newcomer. The former are likely to know something of the arbitrators, and can protect their interests by making better-informed judgments.
It would be only fair, though I suppose it would be impractical, to create profiles of the arbitrators. Then a newbie would know what positions the various people have taken on the subject of arbitration, and would not make the mistake of accepting someone who simply refuses to enforce some published policy of Wikipedia because he doesn't feel like it and nobody can make him. Just fpr example.
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