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User:Coldmachine/Archive 1 (Case against block)

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This page is an archive of an issue which was resolved by Jimbo Wales
Please do NOT edit this page


The failure of wikipedia administration and of community spirit

Why this user is, in fact, not a sockpuppet at all

  • User blocked based on likely (not confirmed) checkuser report.
  • 'Likely' result based on similar IP Range.
  • Therefore user blocked on spurious evidence, ostensibly for being British.
  • Wikipedia therefore racially intolerant.

The Evidence

The following was duplicated from the User talk page for Arthana (using an anon. IP): User_talk:86.131.33.92. I had already compiled some of this edit history for evidence during the checkuser discussion itself, but this is more comprehensive. The comments attached are those provided by Arthana, are are not my own.

  • Arthana
  1. 22:47, 13 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:74.97.215.97 (General note: Vandalism on Nagasarete Airantou. using TW) (top) [rollback] [vandalism]
  2. 22:46, 13 June 2007 (hist) (diff) m Nagasarete Airantou (Reverted 1 edit by 74.97.215.97 identified as vandalism to last revision by Aebliss. using TW)
  • Coldmachine
  1. 22:47, 13 June 2007 (hist) (diff) m User talk:Arthana (→Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/IPSOS - Clarifying.)
  2. 22:47, 13 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:Arthana
  • Arthana
  1. 08:46, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana/monobook.js (←Blanked the page)
  2. 08:32, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana/monobook.js
  3. 08:30, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana/monobook.js (←Blanked the page)
  4. 08:23, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana/monobook.js
  5. 08:22, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana/monobook.js (←Blanked the page)
  6. 08:20, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana/monobook.js
  7. 08:18, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana/monobook.js
  8. 08:14, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana/monobook.js (←Blanked the page) # 08:08, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana/monobook.js
  9. 07:55, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:24.190.19.59
  10. 07:52, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana (Undid revision 136948845 by 24.190.19.59 (talk))
  11. 07:52, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:24.190.19.59 (Undid revision 124882870 by 24.190.19.59 (talk))
Comment: At first sight this looks suspiciously odd but look at the actual edits. Take into account the time it takes to find a vandal, make the changes, move to their user page, add warnings, etc. whilst Coldmachine edits my user page and then corrects it.
  • Coldmachine
  1. 08:29, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:MastCell (→Deletion Nomination Mandrake of Oxford and your speedy keep decision)
  2. 08:27, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Mandrake of Oxford
  3. 08:24, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/2007 June 9 (Adding Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Mandrake of Oxford)
  4. 08:23, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) m Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Mandrake of Oxford
  5. 08:21, 9 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Mandrake of Oxford (Reopening deletion discussion page for Mandrake of Oxford in accordance with discussion here)
Comment: In this group I was struggling with my monobook.js. I could not get scripts to work. I had to keep blanking the page and clearing the cache on my browser. Then going back to the source documents, re-reading the instructions again -- and then make another attempt. Whilst all that was going on Coldmachine is making other complex edits, which presumably took him time to compose!


  • Arthana
  1. 23:19, 8 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:67.52.196.235
  2. 23:19, 8 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Thornton Fractional South High School (Undid revision 136933521 by 67.52.196.235 (talk))
  3. 23:16, 8 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:68.54.184.2 (top) [rollback] [vandalism]
  4. 23:16, 8 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism (→User-reported)
  5. 23:15, 8 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Gun politics (Undid revision 136932830 by 68.54.184.2 (talk))
  6. 23:13, 8 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:80.7.10.115 (←Created page with ' Welcome to Wikipedia. We invite everyone to contribute constructively to our encyclopedia. At least one of your recent edits was not constructive and has been reverted or removed. Please use the sandbox for any test edits you would like to make, and take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia. Thank you. 86.131.36.104 09:11, 20 June 2007 (UTC)') (top) [rollback] [vandalism]
  7. 23:12, 8 June 2007 (hist) (diff) St. John the Baptist School (Woking) (Undid revision 136932475 by 80.7.10.115 (talk))
  8. 23:08, 8 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Image:Muhammad at Kaba c.png (Undid revision 136931671 by 212.107.116.244 (talk)) (top) [rollback] [vandalism]
  • Coldmachine

23:12, 8 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Play-by-mail game (Reverting linkfarming by 90.193.217.43 (registering will help reassure other wiki users of your good intentions))

Comment: I was doing recent changes patrol. I tended to stick to anons making small changes. (MartinBot gets all the big ones.) So whilst Coldmachine was editing and leaving a note I was on the RC page finding a vandal, reverting, and then leaving an appropriate warning on the vandals user page.


  • Arthana
  1. 22:58, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Dita Von Teese (Undid revision 136709947 by 82.42.178.221 (talk))
  2. 22:57, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Vegetable (Undid revision 136709893 by 138.163.0.41 (talk))
  3. 22:57, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Superman: The Animated Series (Undid revision 136709793 by 74.123.75.38 (talk))
  4. 22:52, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Around the Horn (Undid revision 136708720 by 66.234.217.197 (talk))
  5. 22:48, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Welsh language (Undid revision 136708039 by 75.162.1.187 (talk))
  6. 22:44, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Carmen Electra (Undid revision 136707210 by 122.163.170.229 (talk))
  7. 22:41, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Profanity (Undid revision 136706841 by 75.75.85.218 (talk))
  8. 22:38, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) North Salem, New York (Undid revision 136706238 by 68.198.13.175 (talk))
  9. 22:35, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Cottontail rabbit (Undid revision 136705474 by 69.248.92.33 (talk)) (top) [rollback] [vandalism]
  10. 22:34, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Cottontail rabbit (Undid revision 136705608 by 69.248.92.33 (talk))
  11. 22:20, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Drug addiction (revert vandalism)
  12. 22:14, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User:Arthana (←Created page with 'User wikipedia/RC Patrol')
  13. 20:19, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of foods with strong odor (→List of foods with strong odor)
  14. 20:04, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Athame (→Etymology - remove broken links)
  • Coldmachine
  1. 22:52, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) m Talk:Dune (novel) (→Fan sites redux - Whoops, one : missing!)
  2. 22:51, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Talk:Dune (novel) (→Fan sites redux)
  3. 22:48, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:TAnthony (Dune (novel))
  4. 22:45, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Talk:Dune (novel) (→Fan sites redux)
  5. 22:39, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) m Wikipedia:Requests for page protection (→Dune (novel) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views))
  6. 22:37, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Talk:Dune (novel) (→Fan sites redux)
  7. 22:36, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:Coldmachine
  8. 22:35, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) m Talk:Dune (novel) (→Fan sites redux - Grammatical fix)
  9. 22:34, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Talk:Dune (novel) (→Fan sites redux)
  10. 22:32, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) User talk:Coldmachine
  11. 22:31, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) m Wikipedia:Requests for page protection (→Dune (novel) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) - Fixing protection level mistake)
  12. 22:25, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Wikipedia:Requests for page protection (→Current requests for protection)
  13. 22:20, 7 June 2007 (hist) (diff) Dune (novel) (rv, links are included under a fan links section. This discussion goes back three months. Please cease hounding me based on a dispute in another another article.)
Comment: It is plain to see that both Coldmachine and I are busy doing our own thing. Coldmachine is doing complex article edits whilst I was on RC patrol.


The unblock request: no fair hearing

  • Unblock request reviewed and declined by a non-administrator user, against unblock review guidelines:

Q: "I see the unblock request was declined, but the decline is posted by a user - User:SunStar Net - who isn't actually a wikipedia administrator...is this normal/usual? ColdmachineTalk 19:46, 18 June 2007 (UTC)"

A: "It's not normal. Here's the discussion. --Dcooper 20:33, 18 June 2007 (UTC)"

  • Decline review reverted accordingly, and request for administrator to review the unblock made.
  • User talk page protected by administrator for 'abuse of unblock process', ostensibly to prevent further discussion on this issue. Administrator(s) unwilling to engage in dialogue.
  • Three emails to checkuser User:Voice of All ignored.


Reliability of Checkuser

I am intending to publish an article, as part of my doctoral studies, on the way in which Wikipedia handles its administration. I'll be using the ANI page, various articles as examples, and user/talk pages as required (all of which I've been regularly saving to file). The checkuser system will also be examined as part of the article. At present there is evidence that the system can be used as part of systematic abuse in support of defamation of character; if blocks are presented on checkuser evidence linking users to IP range alone then there are also issues which concern systematic racism or cultural intolerance (i.e. blocking on the basis of users sharing a nationality trait such as being British, or French, or American, or whatnot).

Questions:

  • Has the tool a history of proven effectiveness (and have there been any corrections made to previous checkuser reports?)?
  • Does it prevent offenders from repeating acts of vandalism or breaches of Wikipedia policy, or might it encourage the behaviour which the tool is intended to stamp out (innocent users being wrongly accused)?
  • Is it possible for human error to factor into the process at all: that is, is a checkuser report infallible?
  • What level of emphasis is placed on a checkuser report by administrators as a whole, and is this set out in a firm policy document/statement?


Hypotheses

  • The system is easily abused for purposes of victimisation and bullying.
  • False accusations can be bandied about easily.
  • Administrators are appointed based on longevity of service and quality of edits, ignoring any important qualifications such as age (maturity), and experience holding positions of responsibility. Handling of cases reflects this inexperience.
  • Anonymity encourages and incites uncivil behaviour.


  • Academic credibility of wikipedia articles: anonymity versus reliability.
  • Right to privacy (biographies of living persons) infringed by wikipedia articles, with subjects unable to have such articles removed.
  • Linked to this, and to sockpuppet allegations, the prevelance of defamation (specifically libel) within the site with targets unable to defend themselves adequately.
  • "Wikipedia is broken beyond repair" - Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, founder of Citizendium (The Times, April 11, 2007)
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