[WikiEN-l] JzG's banning Private Musings regarding BADSITES debate

[Fred Bauder]

You may file a request for arbitration if you wish regarding this matter,
as may PrivateMusings with respect to his ban.

Fred

> I'm trying hard to keep an open mind, but based on the information I
> currently have in front of me, it seems like I'm looking at the an
> extreme instance of admin abuse.
>
>
> As many know, PrivateMusings is a sock account created in good faith by
> a reputable, good-faith user (of 2+ years editing).  The
> PrivateMusings account was created  in order to deal with the BADSITES
> subject-- fearing that people who disagreed with his stance might try to
> seek some sort of retribution.
>
> This use of socks is totally appropriate-- our socks policy explicitly
> describes socks of this sort as legitimate: "If you want to edit a "hot"
> or controversial subject you may use a sock puppet so long as you do not
> use any other account to edit the same subject or make it appear that
> multiple people support the same action."
>
> Private Musings was always completely open about his being a sock-- he
> revealed his identity several trusted admins, and he has always been a
> polite, thoughtful, and helpful contributor.  No one has alleged that he
> has ever used this account to appear as if multiple people are
> making edits.  During the Arbcom case, and in multiple discussions one
> several pages, Private Musing was instrumental in helping the
> community work out some of the post-BADSITES issues.   Private Musings
> is a good guy, and a better man than I am.
>
> -----
>
> There is now an ever-growing consensus that BADSITES is rejected, and
> that linking  to "badsites' for encyclopedic purposes is permissible in
> some circumstances.   Regretably, some of the individuals who
> demanded a total ban on any and all links to BADSITES have opposed this
> growing consensus, and at least one of them has decided he's
> willing to play dirty to try to get his way.
>
> One of the most vocal proponents of Badsites was JzG/Guy.  As we all
> know, he's a strong proponent of a total ban on 'badsites'.  When the
> Arbcom case failed to enact BADSITES as policy, Guy posted a 2300 word
> "request for clarification', basically insisting that they make it
> policy.
>
> Guy has been a central fixture of the BADSITES dispute, and has
> supported it at every turn-- both at [[WP:BADSITES]], [[WP:NPA]], the
> Arbcom Case, the request for clarification, and many other cases.  He
> has written thousands upon thousands of words on the subject, purged
> dozens if not hundreds of links.   He is definitely a party to the
> BADSITES debate.  Now, there's nothing wrong with having been
> pro-BADSITES,  it's a fine opinion which was  shared by many.  My only
> point in mentioning Guy's extreme involvement in the BADSITES debate is
> to point out that Guy is most certainly NOT an "uninvolved admin"-- not
> by any stretch of the imagination.
>
> But nevertheless, Guy has taken it upon himself to indefinitely ban his
> primary opponent in the Badsites debate, Private Musings.
>
> The precise reason for the block has been hard to gauge.  The initial
> text used during the block log was simply "This has gone on long
> enough", suggesting the longstanding disagreement between Guy and PM was
> the source of the block.   Another explanation was that PM's
> comments had been "inflaming a dispute", again suggesting the
> disagreement between Guy and Pm over BADSITES was the source of the
> block.  In a third comment at aNI, Guy justified characterized the block
> as being "for edit warring".   Finally, Guy argued that PM had
> reinserted links to "blogs which contain bad information"-- suggesting
> the block may have been for violating the rejected BADSITES policy.
> These changing justifications do not inspire confidence.
>
> ----------------------
> Let's first consider whether PM deserves an indefinite ban:
>
> * His use of a sock puppet account is 100% appropriate and  "by the
> book".  He's an icon of the apropriate and responsible use of a sock
> puppet.
>
> * The evidence for his alleged "edit warring" is extremely slim.  A
> total of four edits, made over the course of three days.  The edits were
> supported by consensus on the talk page.  The edits were
> reverting vandalism-- deletion of a reliable source by a indef-banned
> vandal who was using an sockpuppet to evade the ban, who had chosen a
> username specifically designed to harass PM.
>
> * BADSITES is not policy, and we do not indefinitely ban people for
> inserting EL to an article merely because those EL have a personal
> dispute with one of our editors.
>
> No matter how you slice it-- this is NOT a a case for an indefinte ban.
> The ban should be lifted.  Even if people really feel PM drifted into
> 'edit warring'-- he deserves nothing more than a warning from a neutral
> admin, something he would surely comply with.  An indefinitely ban is
> unwarranted.
>
> -------------------
>
> Now let's consider Guy's case:
>
> * He has indefinitely blocked someone he had been in a heated on-going
> policy dispute with.
>
> * He has used his admin tools to block a user he was involved in a
> content dispute with.
>
> * His claim that the indef block is based on sock puppet abuse is
> invalid and shows either poor judgement or insincerity.
>
> * His claim that the indef block is based on edit warring is highly
> unwarrented, and shows poor judgement or insincerity.
>
> * His claim that PM's basically violate BADSITES suggests a contempt for
> the decisions of Arbcom and the community.
>
>
> ---------------
>
> I work hard to AGF-- but it's hard to see Guy's actions as anything but
> a disruptive bit of drama, banning an editor who was in dispute with
> him.  Perhaps a good explaination will emerge, but barring that event, I
> strongly feel Guy needs to be desysopped.  Granted, I'm
> biased.  I disagree with him over badsites too--  so if he's taking to
> banning his opponents, I'm probably next in line.
>
> Alec
>
> _______________________________________________
> WikiEN-l mailing list
> WikiEN-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit:
> http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l