User:Linuxbeak/Arbitration stuff

Although I am not an arbitrator, I believe that it would be a crime to not speak up concerning the case of Jarlaxle.

Jarlaxle's edits have obviously been questionable in nature. However, I am not going to get into how he has been making personal attacks, or has been disruptive, or dangerous, etc. etc. That's obvious. What I think really needs to be addressed is a potential legal hazard that Jarlaxle has opened Wikipedia up to.

Jarlaxle, by posting the name and email address here, is posting libel as well as opening the doorway for harrassment and stalking. This is clearly unacceptable, and I do not care if he says "I thought I could do whatever I wanted to do to my own user page". He is putting Wikimedia in a hot legal bind, and something like this can give Wikimedia and all of its projects a bad reputation.

Another legal issue is the email-bombing. Jarlaxle initially denied that he had email-bombed me, but as you saw in his statement, he admitted to it later (and was proud of it). Even though he states (and may appear) that it is an extra-Wikipedia issue, it is actually an integral part of my warning. There are two reasons..


 * First: Jarlaxle, a Wikipedia user, harrassed another Wikipedia user (me), in direct response to a Wikipedia action (my blocking of him). This was not random; in fact, it was directly connected.
 * Second, and more importantly: Jarlaxle used Wikipedia as a vehicle to carry out an illegal activity (email-bombing/harrassment) by using the "E-Mail this user" button. He wasn't editing Wikipedia, nor was he contributing. He was email bombing, and that places both him and Wikimedia in a legal situation. His legal situation (direct harrassment) isn't what I'm concerned about, because I can easily boot him from his ISP. However, had he email-bombed a more sensitive user, just imagine what the legal repercussions could have been. We do not want to place Wikimedia in this type of legal hotseat.

I am therefore asking that the ArbCom use this case in the future as a "case law". I would like to see that the abuse of the "Email this user" button be addressed, and that users who violate this policy can face a serious penalty, such as a banning period. Linuxbeak | Talk | Desk June 29, 2005 14:13 (UTC)