[WikiEN-l] Checkuser for fun, for profit, for mild curiosity, for sharing, for whatever

[FT2]

-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Anthony
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 11:22 PM
Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Checkuser for fun, for profit, for mild curiosity,
for sharing, for whatever

> One thing I expect is to know when checkuser is run against me.  I
> expect to know about this before it happens, and I expect a chance to
> argue against it happening.

I think the one thing not needed is another way for every edit warrior and
sock warrior to have yet another way to stonewall and stall dispute
resolution processes. It's a tough balance. Somewhere there's a line, trust
these (few) people and processes, or refrain from editing.

 
> But, even if this were fixed I still doubt I'd feel comfortable with
> the system.  I think I'd have to vote for abandoning the tool
> completely.  It shouldn't matter whether or not a user is a sockpuppet
> of another user.  Either their argument has merit or it doesn't.
> Either they're breaking policy or they aren't.  

In principle it should be the case. But in practice, a number of items do
end up heavily damaged through sock use.  Unfortunately dispute resolution
is a messy art, and sock presence does make it worse. In an ideal world
where every other editor was careful and fully followed policy, never
argued, never got upset, always sought dispute resolution, ignored all
trolls, and above all where there were no borderline areas where degree of
support for different views made a difference, it would be easy. Until then,
sock use is a problem, and sock exposure a sadly needed ability.  

(I spend a lot of time of sock related matters and disputes + informal
mediation.  The above is what one sees in practice.)

Changes to admin approach on the scale to make checkuser unnecessary and
policy compliance assured without it, if applied across the board, would be
draconian.  

It would involve a far more ruthless approach from admins, and if applied
across the board, this would probably be perceived as heavy handed,
undesirable, domineering, and would problematically change the entire
balance of the project.  Applying it to select disputes might be more
beneficial.


> If you really need to stop sockpuppetry, then what you need is for 
> the user to verify his/her identity, not to check IP addresses.

The latter doesn't affect puppetry, except with considerable difficulty and
trouble.  If you wanted to check if two accounts were in fact controlled by
the same person, you'd have to get both to make some form of non-fakable
personal contact - both speak to the same person so their voices could be
compared, both show formal ID to some reliable party, or the like. Given
that sock check can be run on two editors far apart and in areas where such
checks are difficult, and most users point-blank will not wish to do this
kind of disclosure, what means would you feel might better verify their
identity in any practical sense without providing far more information and
greater trouble, than IP checking?


FT2.