User talk:MER-C/archives/53

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Blanked page of K. A. Subramaniam
Dear MER-C I am extremely sorry to disturb your busy schedule but I noticed that my appeal was moved to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:MER-C/archives/52#Copyright_status_of_K._A._Subramaniam Please help to let me know if anything else I need to clarify for restoring the page of K. A. Subramaniam. Best regards Roshan Sylu — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roshan Sylu (talk • contribs) 04:32, 14 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Ask at OTRS noticeboard citing your ticket number. Please don't ask me any more questions - there is nothing more I can do. MER-C 12:19, 14 October 2020 (UTC)

Catalysts / Catalysis
Please would you reconsider your close at Categories_for_discussion/Log/2020_October_4? I think you may have mis-read the consensus. – Fayenatic  L ondon 22:19, 15 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Yeah, got the category names mixed up. MER-C 18:00, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

UPE by user Legalife103
Legalife103 was inactive since April 2019 and suddenly came back to post Smilebox after the company was looking for freelancers to create a page for them. They first created Draft:Smilebox (Company) and after the submission was declined by they moved the draft to main. GSS &#x202F;&#128172; 14:50, 19 October 2020 (UTC)

rubydavis1250
it appears our UPe friend has returned Praxidicae (talk) 12:18, 20 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Blocked. Also blocked . MER-C 18:06, 20 October 2020 (UTC)

Featured picture candidates/Street Musicians at the Door
Hey, there's been an alt added, so it might not be a bad idea to state explicitly which version(s) you support. Cheers! Adam Cuerden (talk)Has about 7.6% of all FPs 05:49, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

UPE / recreation
Hi MER-C - could you take a quick look at GreenSole? It's almost identical to GREENSOLE, which was deleted via AfD; in your closing note, you indicated that its creator was a sock of, I'm assuming there's a connection to the new account that created this but I'm not fully au fait with SPI procedures. Girth Summit  (blether) 07:59, 22 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Nuked, spammer blocked. MER-C 12:23, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

ygm

 * Please send emails to paid-en-wp BCC me in the future to make sure they get seen by multiple people. MER-C 19:02, 22 October 2020 (UTC)

FYI
here Praxidicae (talk) 12:50, 23 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Blocked. MER-C 16:37, 23 October 2020 (UTC)

Draft:Dan Ammann
Hi! Just in case you missed my ping, a heads up that I've made some updates to Draft:Dan Ammann that hopefully address its UPE issues. (Re-disclosing: I am a COI editor working on Cruise's behalf.) I've itemized the changes on the talk page there; would love your feedback if you get a chance. Thank you! Mary Gaulke (talk) 20:28, 23 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Place {{subst:submit}} at the top of the article for it to be reviewed. MER-C 09:54, 25 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Mary Gaulke (talk) 20:18, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2020 October 4
I noticed that you closed one of the nominations at Categories for discussion/Log/2020 October 4 by deleting (as expected), so may I be cheeky and ask for your advice on a related matter? (I have never done a CFD before, so I am feeling my way in the dark).

I nominated Categories for discussion/Log/2020 October 4: it looks like the uncontested consensus is "upmerge". I am happy to that but just wanted to check first that I would not be trampling over procedure if I do? Thank you. --John Maynard Friedman (talk) 22:03, 24 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Wait until the debate is closed. MER-C 09:43, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

6ne Maili
I made a draft for the film 6ne Maili (Draft:6ne Maili). This page is protected from creation. Could you please review the draft and move it to an article? --TamilMirchi (talk) 02:10, 25 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Done. Funny how this movie spammed by sockpuppets turns out to be a turd. MER-C 09:13, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

how?
I can't figure out how this made it out of draft and I don't see a log of the move, can you take a look? here Praxidicae (talk) 13:49, 25 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Also I'm a little concerned this editor has reviewer rights. And the creator is obviously from the RxyPro farm too. Praxidicae (talk) 14:05, 25 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Histmerge from draft. As for the second one, I cannot remove privileges based on a single review without extraordinary evidence. MER-C 15:03, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Deletion of Page on L. H. Musgrove
Hi MER-C,

Can you explain the copyright issues that led to the deletion of the page on L. H. Musgrove?

Deletion Note: 16:19, 3 August 2020 MER-C talk contribs deleted page Talk:L. H. Musgrove (G8: Talk page of deleted page "L. H. Musgrove")

Also listed on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyright_problems/2020_July_26

If there were no other issues with that page, I'd be happy to rewrite it as needed.

Thanks. SnailWiki — Preceding unsigned comment added by Snailwiki (talk • contribs) 22:43, 26 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes - the author and only substantial contributor to that article,, is banned for massive copyright infringement. Policy allows the indiscriminate removal of major contributions of repeated copyright violators. There is nothing stopping you from writing a fresh article, but I cannot provide you text from the deleted one. MER-C 13:06, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Okay. Thanks, MER-C.Snailwiki (talk) 00:04, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

I wrote a new page for this person. I don't know if I understand the process for adding a new page, as I was directed to have it reviewed (+3 months). Perhaps that wasn't necessary, but the draft is here Draft:L._H._Musgrove. Let me know if there is a way to speed up the process, otherwise I will just be patient. Snailwiki (talk) 17:42, 24 November 2020 (UTC)
 * The process is long, but it is gummed up by promotional articles about borderline or non-notable companies, bands, businesspeople and other attention seekers. This is different and would likely be reviewed faster. Otherwise there is no further action on your part unless the draft gets reviewed. You should watch it. MER-C 18:01, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

Single purpose promo account only
This user @, has shown they aren’t here to build an encyclopedia, rather they are here predominantly to promote a certain individual named “BJ Sam” see; Draft:BJ Sam a review of their edit history shows this. They have 5 times now submitted the article via the AFC process & 5 times it has been declined. If I were to make an educated guess I’d say they are one & the same person as the subject of their article or this is blatant UPE, either way I think they clearly aren't interested in building an encyclopedia. Celestina007 (talk) 02:51, 27 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Use the reject template next time. If that doesn't work, then I will swing the banhammer. MER-C 17:56, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

SPA with possible COI issue
this looks like an undisclosed paid editor who returned after years to promote Cardano (cryptocurrency platform). The company was previously hiring for freelancers to update their page and the article was deleted at AfD under a different title see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Cardano (platform) and Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Cardano (cryptocurrency). GSS &#x202F;&#128172; 13:42, 27 October 2020 (UTC)
 * I asked the COI question. They're one revert away from a blockchain topic ban and ECP being applied to that page. MER-C 17:55, 27 October 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure if they are going to stop (diff) and sound like they are only here to promote the company. GSS &#x202F;&#128172; 17:55, 28 October 2020 (UTC)
 * and this is interesting. GSS &#x202F;&#128172; 18:05, 28 October 2020 (UTC)
 * They've reported the issue to AN3. It's going to boomerang. MER-C 19:06, 28 October 2020 (UTC)

Thank you MER-C. Can you please also take care of this sockfarm Sockpuppet investigations/Juliaaquinasunv. User repeatedly moving the draft to main after it was declined multiple times and after the title was protected, they moved to a different title. Sound like a case of UPE to me. GSS &#x202F;&#128172; 19:28, 27 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Blocked all three accounts. MER-C 19:33, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

COIN comments
Hi MER-C,

Would you mind to comment in Conflict of interest/Noticeboard? -Mys_721tx (talk) 18:13, 30 October 2020 (UTC)
 * I have no additional comments. MER-C 19:07, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

Possible UPE/COI
User created Karan Thakur (actor) and uploaded this selfie of the subject as their own work, but they are claiming they have no relation with the subject. I tried but can't find this selfie online which is obvious that it was given to them by the subject and they have a conflict of interest. Please see talk:Karan Thakur (actor). GSS &#x202F;&#128172; 06:57, 31 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Blocked. MER-C 10:50, 31 October 2020 (UTC)


 * Did anyone see my recent email? GSS &#x202F;&#128172; 14:31, 3 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Remember me telling you to send them to paid-en-wp as well? MER-C 18:01, 3 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Lol, I forgot that totally. It was too late at that time and I quickly sent it to you guys. I'll forward the copy to the paid queue. Also, can you please take care of this user ? constantly removing the paid tag and edit warring at Casetify. The company was hiring freelancers to update their page and this looks like one of them. 18:06, 3 November 2020 (UTC)

How close...
is OpenEuler too the G5'd version? Praxidicae (talk) 17:01, 3 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Much shorter, but what text is there is identical. Behavior is very similar too. Blocked, deleted. MER-C 18:03, 3 November 2020 (UTC)

Possible covert UPE
The editor, has a history of creating biographical articles for musicians of dubious notability. His latest article creation is on a non notable musician named Cash Wale of which he has an image of the subject of his article on Commons as his own work. I sent the article to an AFD & he removed the AFD template from the article. I reverted the action, & warned him via the edit summary & on his talk page & he does so yet again here & here. Apparently, he has been warned by a bot also. Put together I think they aren’t here to build an encyclopedia & the fact this he has been editing in this manner for 3 years makes me cringe. This professional photoshoot is on an article titled Worlasi, which he created & claims it as  his own work as well but I don’t see him declaring a COI. I strongly believe this is as covert UPE as they come. The constant disruptive editing by removing AFD templates coupled with failure to declare an obvious COI I believe is indicative of a possible covert UPE Celestina007 (talk) 20:28, 3 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Agreed. There are other signs as well. Blocked. MER-C 18:25, 4 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Good job on swiftly putting an end to the disruption! Celestina007 (talk) 22:41, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

Source of suspicious articles list
Hi MER-C. Just a question out of curiosity please. Where does the fortnightly list of Suspicious Articles come from? Cheers, 1292simon (talk) 10:06, 4 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Custom heuristics. I'm obviously not going to talk about how I generate these on-wiki. MER-C 18:22, 4 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Fair enough, thanks for the reply. Cheers, 1292simon (talk) 07:23, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Can you draftify this?
was recently moved by an established editor. However, they did not comply with WP:PROXYING as editors are not permitted to post content at the direction of a blocked or a banned editor unless they can verify that the work is productive and that they have independent reasons doing so. Therefore it should be moved back to draft. 173.56.224.210 (talk) 23:02, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

Mac OS software
Hi, please could I request you to reopen Categories_for_discussion/Log/2020_October_28? I would have opposed this if I had seen it.

We currently have a jumble of categories for both macOS and the Classic Mac OS, and "Mac OS" categories containing both. I'm prepared to reinstate what was there if you would reopen the discussion. – Fayenatic  L ondon 22:10, 5 November 2020 (UTC)
 * OK. MER-C 20:16, 6 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Great, thanks. – Fayenatic  L ondon 23:06, 6 November 2020 (UTC)

Matthew Josef
You might also have a look at User:Bluejosef/sandbox, with content moved there from User:Matthew Josef/sandbox. And a rather similar name. User talk:Joseroyal is also part of that cluster. I doubt if they are sockpuppets but they are at least working together in the same field. The Banner talk 10:32, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I blocked Joseroyal - they were also noncommunicative and violating the copyright policy. Bluejosef has not added any copyvios yet, so I didn't block them. MER-C 19:17, 7 November 2020 (UTC)
 * It was far more to get them on your radar. But I agree with the blocks. The Banner  talk 19:19, 7 November 2020 (UTC)

Your Irrefutable Expertise Is Required
REDACTED
 * This popped up on my WL but I'd like to suggest possibly rding this and going to email for a lot of reasons, mostly because Marik is a prolific UPE, beans and potential outing...Praxidicae (talk) 02:43, 9 November 2020 (UTC)
 * , 100% agree, I believe it should be revdel’ed too but i honestly don’t know how to go about that now. Celestina007 (talk) 19:21, 11 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Zapped. MER-C 19:29, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

Software company SPA
Hi Mer-C. Could I please get your advice regarding a SPA?

Here are their contributions: link

They are continuing to edit on the subject and have not responded to two COI requests on their talk page. Could you please suggest what can be done in this situation? Cheers, 1292simon (talk) 07:10, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I blocked them. I do not believe their denial of being paid is credible. MER-C 10:46, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Thankyou very much for stepping in to block them, I really appreciate it. Cheers, 1292simon (talk) 10:53, 16 November 2020 (UTC)

Merging category to its own sub-cat
Hi, please note that if you use the bot to merge a category to a sub-cat, it does not deal properly with the parent categories, but puts the subcat into itself. This needs to be repaired manually, e.g.. Hope this helps! – Fayenatic  L ondon 08:12, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Request for reduction in protection level on Gridcoin
Reduction in protection level: From extended confirmed protection to pending changes protection or semi-protection.

As it is almost reaching half a year since you've placed indefinite extended confirmed protection I think you should consider having the protection downgraded to semi-protection as there has not been much activity in both the page and the talk page. Additionally the users causing most of the spam User:EnzoCaricoTri, User:Monishmotwani632 would not have even qualified for semi-protection editing without factoring their edits to the Gridcoin page.

I feel like it may be warranted to have it changed to pending changes instead of semi-protection as I was unable to find a large amount of vandalism from IP users besides the slight amount that is to be expected.

Nathanielcwm (talk) 13:45, 18 November 2020 (UTC)
 * The absence of promotional activity isn't a sufficient justification for unprotection, especially for this topic. It's an indication that the ECP is working as intended. As far as I can tell, the underlying reason for the protection is still true. MER-C 17:39, 18 November 2020 (UTC)

Hari Productions article
Hello MER-C. Could I please get your help with another issue? Draft:Hari Productions was created by User:Cyphoidlonic, who has since been blocked for sock-puppeting. On 24 October the article was quarantined but then Cyphoidlonic got around this by recreating the article at Studio Hari about a week later.

In my opinion, the article should go through the AfC process, so I have PRODed the 2nd version of it. But this keeps getting reverted by an IP with a similar editing history to Cyphoidlonic- Special:Contributions/2409:4055:2D8A:C689:0:0:3E8B:2914. Could you please suggest what can be done in this situation? Thanks, MrsSnoozyTurtle (talk) 07:20, 25 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Send it to AFD. Yes, it's probably a waste of time, but it's the best way to have a community review. MER-C 09:23, 25 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Will do. Thanks for your help with this. MrsSnoozyTurtle (talk) 21:18, 25 November 2020 (UTC)

Hi MER-C. Sorry to trouble you again. Could you please suggest what can be done about some suspicious new IPs that have popped up at the AfD and the article? Thanks, MrsSnoozyTurtle (talk) 07:56, 27 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I removed them for block evasion. MER-C 20:00, 27 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you. MrsSnoozyTurtle (talk) 01:20, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

42isthedefiniteanswer sock puppetry
After I tagged Rumble (website) for deletion as per evidence I shared with you, and paid-en queue I noticed user  was registered and created a blank page at draft:Rumble which sound suspicious. GSS &#x202F;&#128172; 14:07, 25 November 2020 (UTC)

Tandy Little
I would like to attempt a rewrite of, which you deleted a few months ago due to copyright issues (Sept. 8).

The person clearly meets WP:N as a member of the Alabama legislature in the 1960s and the first of his party in many decades.

Please either restore it "blanked" so I can "rewrite" it in /Temp. If you prefer, restore it to my user space or to Draft:.

Thank you. davidwr/ (talk)/(contribs)  00:59, 27 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Please see: User:Davidwr/X. MER-C 09:18, 27 November 2020 (UTC)

Orphism (art)
Hello MER-C, I have re-written and removed MoMA material from the Orphism (art) article. See Talk:Orphism (art)/Temp. Not sure how to restore this version to the article. Coldcreation (talk) 06:44, 27 November 2020 (UTC)
 * There is nothing stopping you from readding the text to the article as long as it doesn't violate copyright and meets all the usual editorial policies and guidelines. MER-C 20:01, 27 November 2020 (UTC)

Our friend is back
n4iz is now operating this account. Looks like they're possibly related to this Praxidicae (talk) 16:02, 2 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Blocked. MER-C 17:39, 2 December 2020 (UTC)

UPE Smarkets
Hi there - I had previously been a contributer to the Smarkets article which you recently flagged for potential UPE. I have a politics interest and they have been cited in elections since at least 2010 and had a lot of coverage during 2020 US presidential election - similar to PredictIt. I have tried to clean up the article at Draft:Smarkets and wanted to seek your advice before contributing again. Does the draft look okay, and given it was flagged for potential UPE is there anything else I need to do before posting it? Thanks - Chopz (talk) 19:41, 2 December 2020 (UTC)
 * You should seek community review through WP:AFC by putting {{subst:submit}} at the top of the page. MER-C 20:08, 2 December 2020 (UTC)

Moved: Various categories related to Washington, D.C.
Hello.

There seems to be some kind of snag in the DC categories moved a couple of hours ago. Some child categories have not been re-categorized. Can you see what the issue is?

Thanks.

HandsomeFella (talk) 21:11, 5 December 2020 (UTC)
 * They are categorised through Template:DisestcatUSstate. Someone else will sort that out. MER-C 11:41, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

Gleam Futures Paid Editing Operation


All of these above people are on the Gleam Futures client roster. https://www.gleamfutures.com/uk-roster. I also have off-wiki evidence depicting a conversation between a Gleam Futures employee and a Wikipedia editor where she confesses that User:DarkGlow is operated by one of her colleagues at Gleam Futures. If you would like to see the evidence, get your email address to me.

User:Iamthecheese

and

user:reddirector also seemed to be involved at some point but it looks like their edit histories got oversighted.147.78.5.79 (talk) 19:11, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
 * I have never spoken to a Gleam employee in my life. These claims are clearly fake considering Love Island (a television series) and Max Bowden are not signed to Gleam... I do Wikipedia as a hobby, and have done for over two years. Does anyone really think I'd have done nearly 18,000 total edits for a few pennies from Gleam? That's laughable. What a ridiculous and malicious attack of my character. I don't have the time for this. – DarkGlow ( ✉ ) 19:17, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
 * That was a quick response. Why do so many of your clients overlap with the Gleam Futures client roster and why are your contributions to Gleam Future clients more hagiographic than your contributions to other pages?147.78.5.79 (talk) 19:33, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

Anna Oris
Hi MER_C. You deleted Anna Oris as "G5: Creation by a blocked or banned user in violation of block or ban". There has since been a recreation at Anna Oris (actress). I wonder if this is also the same user? Thanks Tassedethe (talk) 21:29, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It is. Nuked. MER-C 09:09, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

linksearch?
Any idea what's going on with linksearch? For the last few days I can't search and just get 503 errors (also having this problem intermittently with earwig..) Praxidicae (talk) 19:01, 7 December 2020 (UTC)
 * This is a known problem. I think I've done something to stop it happening from tomorrow onward, but we'll see. MER-C 19:22, 7 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's back up now. MER-C 19:42, 7 December 2020 (UTC)
 * ty!! Praxidicae (talk) 19:50, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

can you take a look...
has been recreated and appears to have a variety of SPAs since you last blocked the original creator, though the new account is older. It appears to be a dedicated spam farm. Praxidicae (talk) 13:17, 8 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Blocked. MER-C 20:02, 8 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Also this seems awfully familiar. How close is it to the deleted version? Praxidicae (talk) 02:31, 9 December 2020 (UTC)
 * It's substantially different. I blocked the author because their editing pattern was suspicious. MER-C 18:22, 9 December 2020 (UTC)

possible undisclosed paid/coi
User mostly creating promotional articles on musicians and uploading images that are not available online such as File:Michael Efe Ejebaa (musican).jpg and File:Speroachbeatz.jpg. They were asked to disclose their paid editing status by multiple users including me but they are unresponsive and moved their draft (Draft:Speroach Beatz) back to main without following the AfC process even after the final warning. GSS &#x202F;&#128172; 04:23, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Blocked and quarantined. MER-C 10:23, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you and here we have another SPA. User created Patricia Yunghanns, constantly adding spam links, edit warring and not responding to the paid warning. GSS &#x202F;&#128172; 10:37, 14 December 2020 (UTC)
 * They've been blocked. MER-C 19:17, 14 December 2020 (UTC)

Appeal For Reconsideration
Dear Wikipedia great admins and super moderators,

I am writing to make an apology for violating the rules and regulations of Wikipedia.

With no pride and haughty temperament, I have admitted wholly with my humble self that I have gone against the terms and conditions of Wikipedia. I offer my profound humble apology to the whole staff of Wikipedia for what I have done.

On this day (11 December 2020) notification bumped up on my screen and I found out that my websites; xclusivepop.com and xclusivesongs.com have been flagged and blacklisted. Honestly, I have no grumbles and I have admitted this's all I deserved for I violated the rules guiding Wikipedia by creating multiple accounts and involving in spams.

Please accept my deepest apologies for my mistake in regard to multiple accounts.

It was not my intention to create such an awkward and embarrassing situation for Wikipedia. My aim is to be part of Wikipedia communities that will contribute, not to cause damages.

In a humble apology, I plead the whole staff of Wikipedia to consider giving me a second chance and remove my website from the blacklist. I promise I shall remain ever obedient consistently so to give out a genuine and genius result to the world. I will be engulfed with pleasure if my request and apology are granted.

Please feel free to let me know your thoughts and concerns over this matter.

Sincerely,

Desmond Afam. Desmond Afam130 (talk) 12:39, 13 December 2020 (UTC)