[WikiEN-l] Proposal for a policy

[Fred Bauder]

>-----Original Message-----
>From: George Herbert [mailto:george.herbert at gmail.com]
>Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 12:45 PM
>To: 'English Wikipedia'
>Subject: [WikiEN-l] Proposal for a policy
>
>I would like to float the idea here for a minor policy change on en.wp
>
>I'd like to propose that we require the on-wiki logging of all CU
>requests that result in any user sanction.  This would logically and
>explicitly include requiring the logging of all requests done as the
>result of off-wiki discussions such as IRC etc., if they result in
>user warnings or blocks.
>
>The policy would strongly encourage the person running the CU to
>report it.  The policy would require a person blocking to make a
>report, if the person who ran the CU did not, listing who ran the CU
>should there be any followup questions.  I envision a new section in
>WP:RFCU where these reports would be placed, with the usual archive
>provisions.  It would be encouraged but not required to document the
>reasons for the CU.
>
>Rationale:
>
>I have no objection to venues other than en:WP:RFCU being used to
>initiate someone running a CU (Others may object, I don't care).
>However, I have had a number of cases where figuring out what happened
>with an abusive user's case turned out to hinge on info which never
>got written down on-wiki, and in some cases has taken more than a
>couple of steps to contact the person who ran a CU and got results.
>
>This is particularly bad when we're seeing appeals or issues related
>to much older abusers, when it can be very difficult to figure out who
>knows if a CU was run two or four months ago and what the results
>were.
>
>
>Feedback?

I don't think we want every checkuser ran by an arbitrator investigating apparent connections logged with the result. Often such checks are unproductive, showing nothing, while those that are productive may not be significant or determinative. Often they made just to have a record. For example, if we are proposing to ban someone, it is helpful to keep a record of where they were editing from, just as a precaution.

Fred