[WikiEN-l] The admin problem

[The Cunctator]

On 2/28/06, Tony Sidaway <f.crdfa at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2/28/06, The Cunctator <cunctator at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Defenses of backchannel discussions seem to me to always be rather
> > weak, especially considering the gross potential for abuse and the
> > lessons of history.
>
> There is far too much unjustified suspicion about this. One
> administrator recently started deleting copyright infringing copies of
> Time magazine covers, an action for which he received the full
> authorization of Jimbo Wales.  He was RfC'd!  When finally he obtained
> from Jimbo permission to reproduce the email (which I also received)
> the response was to openly question his honesty, and demand that he
> prove that the email (which carried Jimbo's email address, that of the
> recipient, and my own name, and was posted openly on the wiki with
> Jimbo's permission) came from Jimbo.
>
> That kind of corrosive supiciousness is the problem.  For the most
> part our administrators, those who are involved in backchannel
> operations, are the best and the most trustworthy we have.

I'd say that the suspiciousness wasn't the problem, but the
backchannel authorization. The admin was doing something that
antagonized a lot of other editors' sensibilities, and rightly was
held to account. Deleting images is a Big Deal because it's
permanently destructive.