User:CowardX10/Sandbox

Hi,

I noticed you were angry over the Essjay scandal. I am too, probably angrier than you, so I tried to do something productive and came up with the following. I want to get an endorsement from some admins(the only other talk page I'm posting this is at Doug Bell's) and put it in the correct forum so that it can be debated and modified. Thanks.

New Policy on User Pages:

In consideration of the 2007 scandal regarding the false credentials presented by the user Essjay, new guidelines will now be enforced regarding the nature of the information a user/editor/administrator and all higher positions(all of which will be referred to as users below) may put on his or her user page or claim in any discussion.

I. In consideration of the need to protect one's privacy, a user/admin can have false information limited to the following:


 * 1) His/her name
 * 2) His/her address or general location
 * 3) His/her age within 5 years

II. The following are things for which it is unacceptable to falsely claim:


 * 1) Holding any educational degrees such as BA, BSc, MA, MS or MSc, Ph.D., etc., J.D., etc.
 * 2) Holding any professional licenses such as PE, MSCE, etc.
 * 3) Claiming any years of experience in a profession or hobby
 * 4) Claiming any special access to knowledge or material such as an engineering library or government archive
 * 5) Claiming years of experience with anything in a discussion where said experience would influence a decision (e.g. Saying you have owned a cat for 5 years when engaged in a discussion about cats.)

Other things may fall out of the scope of these rules(e.g. Claiming owning a cat may be acceptable if you never edit articles about cats), so there will be some discretion on the part of the user. It is asked though, that he/she emphasizes accuracy as much as possible.

If a user should violate the above, the account will be immediately treated as if he/she were a vandal who puts false information into articles. Depending on the degree of abuse of false credentials, corrective measures may be a simple request to that the user modify his/her page such that it removes anything under category II. or permanent blockage in severe cases like the persistent claiming of category II. information.

These new policies were put in place because the use false credentials was not specified before leading many to think that it was acceptable to claim them even in article discussions. These rules are a statement that false credentials are never acceptable.

Accuracy in Wikipedia can no longer be limited simply to what is put in the article but now has to extend, to a larger degree than before, to the identities of the members of the community. Note that these guidelines are not a choice between anonymity and full disclosure, but simply an insistence that no false claims are made other than what is listed in I.. This is also consistent with the rules the news media uses in protecting the identity of sources while not putting forth any knowingly false information.