Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Noticeboard/Archive 9

Arbitration Clerks Seeking New Volunteers
The Arbitration Committee clerks are currently looking for a few dependable and mature editors willing to serve as clerks. The responsibilities of clerks include opening and closing arbitration cases and motions; notifying parties of cases, decisions, and other committee actions; maintaining the requests for Arbitration pages; preserving order and proper formatting on case pages; and other administrative and related tasks they may be requested to handle by the arbitrators. Clerks are the unsung heroes of the arbitration process, keeping track of details to ensure that requests are handled in a timely and efficient manner. Clerks get front-line seats to the political and ethnic warfare that scorches Wikipedia periodically, and, since they aren't arbitrators themselves, are rarely threatened with violence by the participants.

Past clerks have gone on to be (or already were) successful lawyers, naval officers, and Presidents of Wikimedia Chapters. The salary and retirement packages for Clerks rival that of Arbitrators, to boot. Best of all, you get a cool fez!

Please email if you are interested in becoming a clerk, and a clerk will reply with an acknowledgement of your message and any questions we want to put to you.

For the Arbitration Committee clerks, Lord Roem ~ (talk) 05:36, 1 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration motion regarding Arbitration/Requests/Case/Rich Farmbrough
Resolved by motion at Arbitration/Requests/Clarification and Amendment that:

In the Rich Farmbrough case, the revised Finding of Fact 8, enacted on [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Rich_Farmbrough&diff=494786634 28 May 2012] is vacated. Nothing in this decision constitutes an endorsement by the Committee of Rich Farmbrough's use of administrative tools to unblock his own accounts.

For the Arbitration Committee, ( X! ·  talk )  · @114  · 01:43, 6 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration motion regarding User:Hex
Resolved by motion at Arbitration/Requests/Case that:

The Arbitration Committee has considered the request for arbitration concerning 's block of. There is no evidence of a significant, recurring problem with Hex's use of his administrator permissions. However, Hex is:


 * (A) Reminded that he must obey the community's "involved administrators" policy;
 * (B) Admonished for blocking O'Dea when no block was appropriate; and
 * (C) Reminded that he must be fully responsive to valid criticism by the community of his actions.

For the Arbitration Committee, ( X! ·  talk )  · @865  · 19:45, 7 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration motion regarding Requests for arbitration/Palestine-Israel articles
Resolved by motion at Arbitration/Requests/Motions that:

For the Arbitration Committee, ( X! ·  talk )  · @239  · 04:43, 12 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

New Trainee Clerks
The Arbitration Committee clerk team would like to welcome, , and as our newest trainees. Additionally, we welcome back to active status as a trainee.

For the Arbitration Committee clerks, Lord Roem ~ (talk) 03:09, 15 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Changes in Advanced Permissions - 15 January 2013
As noted in the Arbitration Committee announcements of 31 December 2012, the Arbitration Committee has initiated a review of advanced permissions. As part of this process, the Arbitration Committee has discussed the assignment of project-specific CheckUser and Oversight tools to WMF staff with the WMF and with the individual staff members (Aaron Schulz and Brion Vibber) who have long held advanced permissions. It was identified that neither Aaron nor Brion requires these accesses in their current WMF staff roles, and both have agreed that these permissions may be withdrawn. Should either of them (or any other WMF staff member) require CheckUser or Oversight tools in the future to carry out their staff responsibilities, the tools will be assigned through WMF processes.

Aaron Schulz first edited Wikipedia in July 2005, and quickly found his niche as a volunteer developer, creator and operator of bots, and editor. He initially joined the WMF as a contract developer, and has gone on to become a full-time software engineer with a range of responsibilities. He was appointed as a CheckUser on English Wikipedia by the Arbitration Committee in May 2007, when he was contracted by the WMF to redesign the CheckUser extension, and he continued on as an active member of the Checkuser team until early 2009. He was assigned Oversight permissions in early 2009 to assist in the testing of the (then) new revision deletion/suppression extension. We thank Aaron for his diligent work as part of the Checkuser team, as well as his work over the years in improving both the CheckUser and Oversight tools.

Brion Vibber has been a member of the Wikipedia community since early 2001, first working on the Esperanto Wikipedia. He worked on localization and unicode in the earliest versions of the software that eventually became the MediaWiki software application that runs all of the WMF projects, and soon became the primary maintainer of the software. He was WMF's Employee #1, and went on to become its first CTO. After a brief sojourn away from the WMF, Brion returned to take on a series of important engineering projects. He is currently Senior Software Architect, Mobile. Brion was the subject of a recent Signpost article that highlights the remarkable extent of his contributions to the Wikimedia movement. In his varying roles with the WMF, he has been responsible for ensuring the maintenance of a vast range of MediaWiki extensions, including CheckUser, the now-deprecated original Oversight extension, and the newer revision deletion/suppression extension. We thank Brion for all that he has done to support the Wikimedia family of projects, and are grateful for his attention to the tools that support our Checkusers and Oversighters.

For the Arbitration Committee, Risker (talk) 06:26, 15 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Ban Appeals Subcommittee appointments
For the period 1 January to 30 June 2013, the Ban Appeals Subcommittee will consist of the following arbitrators: AGK, Hersfold, SilkTork, and Timotheus Canens. David Fuchs is the subcommittee coordinator. Roger Davies talk 11:56, 18 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

BASC: Asgardian appeal
was banned for one year in 2010 (see Asgardian). Later in 2010, he was blocked indefinitely for evading his ban. This month, Asgardian appealed his indefinite block to the Ban Appeals Subcommittee. We wish to consult the community about this appeal, and specifically invite comments on two points: (1) Should Asgardian be unblocked? (2) If so, what should be the conditions of his being unblocked?

Asgardian suggested that he could be restricted as follows: be given a "period of probation" for the first three months after being unblocked; be limited to 10 or 15 edits per day; and be made to take on a mentor. The Ban Appeals Subcommittee suggested the following restrictions:

Comments from the community are solicited.

For the Arbitration Committee, AGK  [•] 22:50, 21 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion


 * Supporting motion to hold a community consultation on this appeal:
 * AGK (proposing), Salvio giuliano, Carcharoth, Worm That Turned, Roger Davies, NuclearWarfare, Timotheus Canens, Coren, and Courcelles.
 * Opposing:
 * None.
 * Recusing/abstaining:
 * None.
 * Not voting:
 * David Fuchs, Hersfold, Kirill Lokshin, Newyorkbrad, Risker, and SilkTork.

Result of appeal
The Arbitration Committee thanks the community for their comments, but our decision is to decline Asgardian's appeal. AGK [•] 01:50, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Arbitration motion regarding Requests for arbitration/Waldorf education
Resolved by motion at Arbitration/Requests/Clarification and Amendment that:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 09:56, 30 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration motion under consideration regarding withdrawn case requests
The Arbitration Committee is currently considering a motion on withdrawn arbitration case requests. The community may comment on the proposed motion in the community comments section.

For the Arbitration Committee, Ks0stm  (T•C•G•E) 21:22, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Arbitration motion regarding withdrawn case requests
The Arbitration Committee has resolved by [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Motions&oldid=537161130#Motion_regarding_withdrawn_case_requests motion] that:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 03:53, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Declaration of possible conflict of interest
I have just accepted a contractual position with the Wikimedia Foundation, and posted a full disclosure with details and an invitation for community comments here. &mdash; Coren (talk) 21:19, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

Motions with respect to functionaries
In early January 2013, the Arbitration Committee reviewed several aspects of the appointment and review processes related to Checkusers, Oversighters and AUSC members, including the appointment extension of advanced permissions to former arbitrators. In preparation for this review, arbitrators retiring as of 31 December 2012 were permitted to retain Checkuser and Oversight permissions at their request on an interim basis until the completion of the review and decisions on next steps. The motions that the Arbitration Committee will vote on are located at Arbitration/Requests/Motions; other motions may be proposed as well. All functionaries and community members are invited to participate in the discussion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Risker (talk • contribs) 02:07, 20 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Discuss this on the Motions page

User:Kevin's unblock of User:Cla68
has unilaterally reversed a block placed by two oversighters relating to the repeated posting of personal information. Kevin failed to obtain agreement for the unblocking from either the oversighters or the Arbitration Committee prior to doing so. Accordingly, Kevin is temporarily desysopped in accordance with Level II procedures for removing administrative tools. The unblock of is to be reversed until Cla68's appeal is addressed by the Arbitration Committee.
 * Support: Carcharoth, Coren, Courcelles, David Fuchs, Hersfold, SilkTork, Timotheus Canens
 * Oppose: Newyorkbrad
 * Recused: Kirill Lokshin, NuclearWarfare
 * Not voting: AGK, Risker, Roger Davies, Worm That Turned
 * Inactive: Salvio giuliano

For the Arbitration Committee, T. Canens (talk) 06:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration motion under consideration regarding Oversight-related blocks
The Arbitration Committee is currently considering a motion on Oversight-related blocks. The community may comment on the proposed motion in the general discussion section.

For the Arbitration Committee, -- Guerillero &#124;  My Talk  07:02, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Arbitration motion regarding Requests for arbitration/Armenia-Azerbaijan 2
The Arbitration Committee has resolved by [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Clarification_and_Amendment&oldid=542206419#Clarification_request:_Armenia-Azerbaijan_2 motion] that:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 05:36, 8 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Unblock of Russavia
Approximately one day ago, the Arbitration Committee made public the following statement on User talk:Russavia. This is a cross-post of that statement, a motion that decided his recent appeal:


 * Supporting motion: Coren, NuclearWarfare, Hersfold, SilkTork, AGK (proposing), David Fuchs, Courcelles, and Worm That Turned.
 * Opposing: (none).
 * Not voting: Carcharoth, Newyorkbrad, Kirill Lokshin, and Roger Davies.
 * Inactive: Risker, Salvio guiliano.
 * Recused: Timotheus Canens.

I have unblocked your account, but remind you (as explained in the motion) that your earlier topic ban remains in effect and that you may be blocked again if you violate that ban.

For the Arbitration Committee, AGK  [•] 14:19, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

For the Arbitration Committee, NW ( Talk ) 14:46, 8 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration motion regarding Oversight-related blocks
The Arbitration Committee has resolved by [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Motions&oldid=542990142#Oversight-related_blocks motion] that:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 07:43, 9 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration motions with respect to functionaries
The Arbitration Committee has resolved by [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Motions&oldid=543361174#Motions_with_respect_to_functionaries motion] that:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 07:21, 11 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Doncram closed
An arbitration case regarding Doncram has now closed and the final decision is viewable at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:

For the Arbitration Committee, ( X! ·  talk )  · @276  · 05:38, 12 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Unblock of Fæ
The Arbitration Committee has made public the following statement on User talk:Fæ. This is a cross-post of that statement, a motion that decided his recent appeal:


 * Supporting motion: Carcharoth, Coren, David Fuchs, Nuclear Warfare, Newyorkbrad, Risker, SilkTork, Worm That Turned (proposing)
 * Opposing: Courcelles
 * Not voting: Roger Davies, Timotheus Canens
 * Inactive: Hersfold
 * Recused: AGK, Salvio guiliano, Kirill Lokshin

For the Arbitration Committee, Worm TT( talk ) 12:50, 12 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Motion to return Kevin's administrator rights
Resolved by [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case&oldid=543656047#Motion_.282.29 motion] at Arbitration/Requests/Case that:

Based on his commitment not to reverse any block designated as an oversight-based block [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case&curid=22747298&diff=542445268&oldid=542444239], Kevin's administrator privileges are reinstated, effective immediately. He is strongly admonished for reversing the block and warned to abide by all applicable policies governing the conduct of administrators.

For the Arbitration Committee, Alexandr Dmitri (talk) 17:00, 12 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) closed
An arbitration case regarding Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) has now closed and the final decision is viewable at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:

For the Arbitration Committee, — ΛΧΣ  21  00:47, 13 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Resignation
The past several months for the Arbitration Committee have been unusually filled with controversy and drama. Throughout these incidents, my colleagues on the Arbitration Committee and I have been doing our utmost to ensure our actions have been in the best interests of the project. As volunteers ourselves, it is often difficult to persevere through the animosity that is directed towards the Committee in response to some of these actions; arbitrators are regularly criticized for their work, and on rare occasion actively threatened. However, we do so because we believe that we are still making a positive difference to the project, even if only in the long term, and that our work is still appreciated by some. Unfortunately, recent events have shaken my confidence in that belief, and have been extremely stressful for me as a result. This, added on top of the everyday stress that comes from being a member of the Arbitration Committee, has built up to the point that Wikipedia is no longer something I have any enjoyment in contributing to.

As a result of this and other reasons I won't go into here, effective immediately, I am resigning my position on the Arbitration Committee and relinquishing all of my user rights, including administrator, bureaucrat, checkuser, edit filter manager, and oversight. I will, however, continue to maintain and support User:HersfoldArbClerkBot and its associated IRC bot, which assist the Arbitration Committee clerk corps.

It has been an honor serving with my fellow Arbitrators, the Functionaries, and the ArbCom Clerks, and I wish them all the best of luck. I also hope that they receive greater support from the community at large, so that they may better exercise the trust the community has placed in them for the good of the project as a whole; please remember that we are all volunteers working towards the same purpose, and while disagreements may arise, there is always time to stand back and attempt to understand one another.

Happy editing, Hers fold  (t/a/c) 01:22, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Statement regarding Malleus Fatuorum and George Ponderevo
It was recently asserted to the Arbitration Committee that has been using an undisclosed alternate account,. The Committee has examined the evidence and invited statements from Malleus and George. From these, we have concluded that there is a close link between the two accounts and that there has also been some crossover. The accounts will be marked with a shared IP tag.


 * Support: AGK, Carcharoth, Courcelles, David Fuchs, Kirill Lokshin, NuclearWarfare, Risker, Roger Davies, SilkTork, Timotheus Canens, Worm That Turned
 * Abstain: Newyorkbrad
 * Recused: Coren
 * Inactive: Salvio giuliano

For the Arbitration Committee, Carcharoth (talk) 23:42, 13 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Coren's resignation
Effective immediately, has resigned his membership of the Arbitration Committee. He has also [ made] the following statement:

For the Arbitration Committee, AGK  [•] 22:58, 14 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Audit Subcommittee vacancies: Call for applications (2013)
The Arbitration Committee is seeking to appoint three non-arbitrator members to the Audit Subcommittee ("AUSC"). The Committee is comprised of six members and is tasked with investigations concerning the use of CheckUser and Oversight privileges on the English Wikipedia. The AUSC also monitors CheckUser and Oversight activity and use of the applicable tools. The current non-arbitrator members are Avraham, MBisanz, and Ponyo, whose terms were to expire on February 28 but were extended with their agreement until April 30 by the Committee.

Matters brought before the subcommittee may be time-sensitive and subcommittee members should be prepared and available to discuss cases promptly so they may be resolved in a timely manner. Sitting subcommittee members are expected to actively participate in AUSC proceedings and may be replaced should they become inactive. All subcommittee members are given both CheckUser and Oversight access but are expected to not make regular use of them unless needed. They are subject to the relevant local and global policies and guidelines concerning CheckUser and Oversight.

If you think you may be suitably qualified, please email to start the application procedure for an appointment ending 30 June 2014. The application period will close at 23:59, 1 April 2013 (UTC). Further information is also available here.

For the Arbitration Committee, NW ( Talk ) 18:11, 16 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/SchuminWeb closed
An arbitration case regarding SchuminWeb, and previously suspended by motion, has now closed. The original temporary injuction has been enacted:

For the Arbitration Committee, — ΛΧΣ  21  05:13, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Audit Subcommittee vacancies: last call for applications
This is a reminder that the application period for the three non-arbitrator seats on the Audit Subcommittee will close at 23:59, 1 April 2013 (UTC), less than 36 hours from now.

The Audit Subcommittee ("AUSC") is comprised of six members and is tasked with investigations concerning the use of CheckUser and Oversight privileges on the English Wikipedia. The AUSC also monitors CheckUser and Oversight activity and use of the applicable tools. The current non-arbitrator members are Avraham, MBisanz, and Ponyo, whose terms were to expire on February 28 but were extended with their agreement until April 30 by the Committee.

Matters brought before the subcommittee may be time-sensitive and subcommittee members should be prepared and available to discuss cases promptly so they may be resolved in a timely manner. Sitting subcommittee members are expected to actively participate in AUSC proceedings and may be replaced should they become inactive. All subcommittee members are given both CheckUser and Oversight access but are expected to not make regular use of them unless needed. They are subject to the relevant local and global policies and guidelines concerning CheckUser and Oversight.

Please note that due to Wikimedia Foundation rules governing access to deleted material, only applications from administrators will be accepted.

If you think you may be suitably qualified, please email to start the application procedure for an appointment ending 30 June 2014. Once again, the application period will close at 23:59, 1 April 2013 (UTC). Further information is also available here.

For the Arbitration Committee, T. Canens (talk) 14:57, 31 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Audit Subcommittee appointments (2013): Invitation to comment on candidates
The Arbitration Committee is seeking to appoint at least three non-arbitrator members to the Audit Subcommittee, and is now seeking comments from the community regarding the candidates who have volunteered for this role.

Interested parties are invited to review the appointments page containing the nomination statements supplied by the candidates and their answers to a few standard questions. Community members may also pose additional questions and submit comments about the candidates on the individual nomination subpages or privately via email to.

Following the consultation phase, the committee will take into account the answers provided by the candidates to the questions and the comments offered by the community (both publicly and privately) along with any other relevant factors before making a final decision regarding appointments.

The consultation phase is scheduled to end 23:59, 17 April 2013 (UTC), and the appointments are scheduled to be announced by 28 April 2013.

For the Arbitration Committee, Risker (talk) 04:29, 9 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

GoodDay banned
The Arbitration Committee has [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Clarification_and_Amendment&oldid=551547710#Amendment_request:_GoodDay resolved] by motion that:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 00:41, 22 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Sexology closed
An arbitration case regarding sexology has now closed and the final decision is viewable at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:
 * 1) Standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all articles dealing with transgender issues and paraphilia classification (e.g., hebephilia).
 * 2) User:Jokestress and User:James Cantor are banned from interacting with each other, commenting on and/or commenting about each other including their professional lives, works and on-wiki activities. This applies to all namespaces, but excludes dispute resolution that explicitly relates to both parties.
 * 3) User:Jokestress is indefinitely banned from the topic of human sexuality, including biographical articles.

For the Arbitration Committee, Ks0stm  (T•C•G•E) 12:53, 25 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Promotions to full clerk (April 2013)
We are pleased to announce that Callanecc, Hahc21, Ks0stm, and X! have been promoted to full Arbitration Committee clerk positions, effective immediately.

We thank the clerk team for their continued assistance to the Committee and its work.

For the Arbitration Committee, Carcharoth (talk) 23:16, 28 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Audit Subcommittee appointments 2013
Effective 1 May 2013,, , and are appointed as community representatives to the Audit Subcommittee (AUSC). The period of appointment will be 1 May 2013 to 30 June 2014. All three have properly identified to the Wikimedia Foundation.

No alternate member of the subcommittee has been designated for this term, but in the event that one of the appointees resigns from the subcommittee for any reason, we may (depending on how long is left of their term of office) appoint one of the other candidates from this round of appointments to the vacant seat, temporarily reduce the size of the subcommittee (to two arbitrators and two community members), or leave the seat vacant. The Arbitration Committee sincerely thanks all of the candidates, as well as the many members of the community who participated in the appointment process for these roles.

The Arbitration Committee also extends its thanks to (Avi),, and MBisanz for agreeing to stay in office past the original length of their term; and to Avi and Ponyo for their service to date.

Support: AGK, Carcharoth, Courcelles, Newyorkbrad, NuclearWarfare, Risker, Salvio giuliano, Timotheus Canens, David Fuchs

Not voting: Kirill Lokshin, Roger Davies, SilkTork, Worm That Turned

For the Arbitration Committee, Risker (talk) 01:13, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Note to stewards: Appointment to the AUSC includes granting of CheckUser and Oversight permissions to its members, specifically and.


 * Archived discussion

Audit Subcommittee report of activity for March 2012 through April 2013
The Audit Subcommittee has published its annual summary of activity for the period from March 2012 to April 2013:

To read the original copy of this report (and earlier reports), see Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Audit Subcommittee/Reports.

For the Audit Subcommittee, AGK  [•] 15:16, 1 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Discuss this

BASC statistics: Q1 2013
During the first three months of 2013, the Ban Appeals Subcommittee heard and completed a total of 43 appeals (this number includes multiple appeals by single users). A total of three appeals were granted: Fæ, Int21h, and Russavia. Of the remaining appeals, eleven were either referred to proper venues or were closed as incomplete (the appellants did not respond back to further correspondence or did not provide enough information on which to make a determination.) The median time for processing appeals was 3 days, while the average time was 11 days.

For the Arbitration Committee, Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs ( talk ) 20:51, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

Discuss This

Successful block appeal by Cla68
The Arbitration Committee has passed the following motion to accept 's appeal of his indefinite block for outing other contributors:


 * Support: Risker (proposing), AGK, Newyorkbrad, Carcharoth, David Fuchs, WormThatTurned, and Timotheus Canens


 * Oppose: Courcelles, SilkTork, and Salvio giuliano


 * Not voting: Roger Davies


 * Recuse: NuclearWarfare, Kirill Lokshin

For the Arbitration Committee, AGK  [•] 09:41, 23 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Motion regarding Arbitration/Requests/Case/Race and politics
Resolved by motion:

"In his evidence submission to this case, stated he is immediately retiring from editing Wikipedia:

Apostle12's conduct was a substantial part of the present arbitration case (Race and politics) and hearing this case in Apostle12's absence would serve no purpose. The committee therefore resolves that:
 * 1) The present arbitration case is suspended for two months (from the date this motion passes).
 * 2) If Apostle12 returns while this case is suspended, arbitration proceedings will resume.
 * 3) If Apostle12 does not return to editing before two months have elapsed: he will be indefinitely prohibited from editing any page relating to "race and politics", broadly construed; and this case will be un-suspended and closed.
 * 4) Apostle12 is directed to inform the Arbitration Committee if he returns to editing the English Wikipedia using any account.

Apostle12 (and all of his accounts, if he has created one or more others at that time) may be indefinitely blocked by any uninvolved administrator if he violates the prohibitions in points 3 or 4 of this motion."

For the Arbitration Committee, Ks0stm  (T•C•G•E) 02:26, 26 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Tea Party movement suspended
The Arbitration Committee has resolved by that: 1) The Tea Party movement case is suspended until the end of June 2013 to allow time for the Tea Party movement/Moderated discussion to attempt to resolve the conflict regarding the Tea Party movement article. Pages relating to the Tea Party movement, in any namespace, broadly construed, are placed under discretionary sanctions until further notice. The Committee will reconvene on 1 July 2013 to determine if the conflict has been resolved; and if not, what further steps the Committee should take. For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 14:28, 1 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Argentine History closed
An arbitration case regarding the article Juan Manuel de Rosas has now closed and the final decision is viewable at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:

For the Arbitration Committee, — ΛΧΣ  21  04:25, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Tea Party movement resumed
One month ago, the Arbitration Committee voted in a temporary injunction to suspend the case relating to a dispute over Tea Party movement. Today, we have reviewed the dispute and determined that arbitration of the case is still necessary. We will therefore unsuspend the case and resume voting on our proposed decision. For the Arbitration Committee, AGK  [•] 22:32, 2 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Changes to the Audit Subcommittee (AUSC)
The terms of the following arbitrator members of the Audit Subcommittee expired at 23:59 (UTC), 30 June 2013:

The vacated seats will be taken for six-month terms by the following arbitrators with effect from 00:00 (UTC), 1 July 2013:

Risker was previously the Subcommittee's coordinator, a non-voting observer who manages the subcommittee's open cases (and liaises between the ArbCom and AUSC), does research for open cases, administers the mailing list, and gives an advisory view on investigations. That role will be filled by.

The Committee is grateful to the participating arbitrators, as well as to the current community representatives, for their service.

For the Arbitration Committee, NW ( Talk ) 03:01, 3 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

2013 CheckUser and Oversight appointments: Call for applications
The Arbitration Committee is seeking to appoint additional users to the CheckUser and Oversight teams. Experienced editors are invited to apply for either or both of the permissions, and current holders of either permission are also invited to apply for the other.

Successful candidates are likely to be regularly available and already familiar with local and global processes, policies, and guidelines especially those concerning CheckUser and Oversight. CheckUser candidates are expected to be technically proficient, and previous experience with OTRS is beneficial for Oversight candidates. Trusted users who frequent IRC are also encouraged to apply for either permission. All candidates must at least 18 years of age; have attained legal majority in their jurisdiction of residence; and be willing to identify to the Wikimedia Foundation prior to receiving permissions.

If you think you may be suitably qualified, please see the appointments page for further information. The application period is scheduled to close 22 July 2013.

For the Arbitration Committee, NW ( Talk ) 21:43, 8 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Result of Requests for comment/Jerusalem
After thoroughly reading this RfC and the arguments expressed for and against each draft, we have found a consensus for Draft 7 and have decided that it is within our mandate to insert the geographical information from Draft 14 in place of the ellipses of Draft 7. There was a consensus that it is not compliant with NPOV policy to state in the article “Jerusalem is the capital of Israel”, nor is it compliant to state “Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, though not internationally recognized as such”. There was no consensus for any phrasing of Jerusalem’s location in either Israel or Palestine.

We have decided to act under the broad mandate given us by the Arbitration Committee to set the first paragraph of the article in stone to best ameliorate the conflict, rather than instigate further conflict and edit-warring over what should replace the ellipses. Therefore, we have set the first paragraph of Jerusalem as follows:

To reiterate, this decision is binding for 3 years and no one may add information about Jerusalem’s capital status or location in either Israel or Palestine to the lead.

Thank you for your participation.

Respectfully,

Keilana (talk), Pgallert (talk), and RegentsPark (talk) 18:27, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

2013 CheckUser and Oversight appointments: Call for applications (Reminder)
This is a reminder that the application period for CheckUser and Oversight appointments runs through this Monday, 22 July 2013.

For the Arbitration Committee, NW ( Talk ) 01:37, 20 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration motion regarding Syrian civil war articles
The Arbitration Committee has resolved by that:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 08:54, 21 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Race and politics closed
The suspended arbitration case regarding Race and politics has now closed in accordance with the motion for suspension and closure. The following remedies have been enacted:
 * 1) Apostle12 is indefinitely prohibited from editing any page relating to "race and politics", broadly construed.
 * 2) Apostle12 is directed to inform the Arbitration Committee if he returns to editing the English Wikipedia using any account.
 * 3) Apostle12 (and all of his accounts, if he has created one or more others at that time) may be indefinitely blocked by any uninvolved administrator if he violates these prohibitions.

For the Arbitration Committee, Ks0stm  (T•C•G•E) 20:21, 26 July 2013 (UTC)v
 * Archived discussion

Deskana returning as an Oversighter
resigned his access to oversight permissions in December 2012, which he had not used in several months. He has remained an active checkuser, and has recently requested to be reinstated as an oversighter. The Arbitration Committee has granted this request, and thanks Deskana for his many years of service.


 * Support: AGK, Courcelles, Kirill Lokshin, Newyorkbrad, NuclearWarfare, Risker, Roger Davies, Worm That Turned
 * Oppose: None
 * Not voting: David Fuchs, Salvio giuliano, SilkTork, Timotheus Canens
 * Inactive: Carcharoth

For the Arbitration Committee, NW ( Talk ) 02:07, 2 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

2013 CheckUser and Oversight appointments: Invitation to comment on candidates
The Arbitration Committee is seeking to appoint additional users to the CheckUser and Oversight teams, and is now seeking comments from the community regarding the candidates who have volunteered for this role.

Interested parties are invited to review the appointments page containing the nomination statements supplied by the candidates and their answers to a few standard questions. Community members may also pose additional questions and submit comments about the candidates on the individual nomination subpages or privately via email to.

Following the consultation phase, the committee will take into account the answers provided by the candidates to the questions and the comments offered by the community (both publicly and privately) along with all other relevant factors before making a final decision regarding appointments.

The consultation phase is scheduled to end 23:59, 16 August 2013 (UTC), and the appointments are scheduled to be announced by 24 August 2013.

For the Arbitration Committee, NW</b> ( Talk ) 16:15, 3 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Discuss this announcement

Arbitration motion regarding MarshalN20
The Arbitration Committee has resolved by [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Clarification_and_Amendment&oldid=568317518#Motion_1:_MarshalN20 motion] at Arbitration/Requests/Clarification and Amendment that:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 06:24, 13 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Kiefer.Wolfowitz and Ironholds closed
An arbitration case regarding Kiefer.Wolfowitz and Ironholds has now closed and the final decision is available at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 22:51, 13 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration motions regarding Cambalachero, MarshalN20 and Lecen
The Arbitration Committee has resolved by [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Clarification_and_Amendment&oldid=568855646#Motions motion] that:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 01:07, 18 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

2013 CheckUser and Oversight appointments & personnel changes
Following the 2013 CU/OS appointments process, the Arbitration Committee is appointing four (4) editors to the CheckUser team and seven (7) editors to the Oversight team (pursuant to the CU/OS appointment procedures).

Once they have satisfactorily identified to the Wikimedia Foundation, the Arbitration Committee hereby:

(a) appoints the following editors as CheckUsers:

(b) appoints the following editors as Oversighters:

† This editor is a community member of the Audit Subcommittee, who will retain the specified permission once their subcommittee term ends.

The committee sincerely thanks the other candidates who applied but who on this occasion were unsuccessful and also the community members who participated for their assistance.

The committee also notes inactivity by as a CheckUser and Oversighter, who has not edited since March 2013. Following several attempts to contact Elen, the Committee is removing her access to the CheckUser and Oversight permissions (and access to the checkuser-l and oversight-l mailing lists, CheckUser wiki, and oversight-en OTRS queue) in line with the functionary inactivity procedures.


 * Supporting motion‡: NuclearWarfare, T. Canens, Courcelles, AGK, WormThatTurned, Roger Davies, David Fuchs, Risker, and Kirill Lokshin
 * Not voting: Salvio giuliano, Newyorkbrad
 * Inactive: Carcharoth
 * Abstaining: SilkTork

‡ These arbitrators supported the motion above. Individual Arbitrators may have supported candidates who did not pass, or opposed candidates who did pass.

For the Arbitration Committee, AGK  [•] 23:58, 30 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Tea Party movement closed
An arbitration case regarding the Tea Party movement has now closed and the final decision is available at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 07:00, 5 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Infoboxes closed
An arbitration case regarding behaviour around the use of Infoboxes in several articles has now closed and the final decision is available at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:

For the Arbitration Committee, — ΛΧΣ  21  00:26, 11 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Discretionary sanctions review
(This is a repeat of an earlier notice.) Since March 2013, various individual members of the Arbitration Committee have been reviewing the existing Discretionary sanctions process, with a view to (i) simplifying its operation and (ii) updating its procedures to reflect various clarification and amendment requests. An updated draft of the procedure is available for scrutiny and discussion here. AGK [•] 16:49, 13 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Discuss this.

Amendment to Requests for arbitration/Locke Cole
The Arbitration Committee has resolved by that:

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 01:17, 16 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration motion regarding Mathsci
The Arbitration Committee resolves by that

For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 09:18, 17 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

New Trainee Clerk
The Arbitration Committee clerk team would like to welcome as our newest trainee clerk.

For the Arbitration Committee clerks,

-- Guerillero &#124;  My Talk  16:41, 18 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Amendment to Requests for arbitration/Scientology
The Arbitration Committee resolves by that

For the Arbitration Committee, Rschen7754 00:16, 19 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Resignation of NuclearWarfare
When I was elected to the Committee at the end of last year, I had every intention of filling out my term. I am no longer able to do so, and thus am resigning as an Arbitrator, CheckUser, and Oversighter. <b style="color:navy;">NW</b> ( Talk ) 16:09, 3 October 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Amendment to Arbitration/Requests/Case/Race and intelligence
The Arbitration Committee resolves by motion that

For the Arbitration Committee, Rschen7754 09:15, 13 October 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Manning naming dispute closed
This arbitration case has been closed and the final decision is available at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:
 * 1)  is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to any transgender topic or individual, broadly construed.
 * 2)  is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to any transgender topic or individual, broadly construed.
 * 3)  is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to any transgender topic or individual, broadly construed.
 * 4)  is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to any transgender topic or individual, broadly construed.
 * 5)  is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to any transgender topic or individual, broadly construed. He is also topic banned from all pages (including biographies) related to leaks of classified information, broadly construed.
 * 6)  is admonished for acting in a manner incompatible with the community's expectations of administrators (see #David Gerard's use of tools).
 * 7)  is indefinitely prohibited from using his administrator permissions (i) on pages relating to transgender people or issues and (ii) in situations involving such pages. This restriction may be first appealed after six months have elapsed, and every six months thereafter.
 * 8) The standard discretionary sanctions adopted in Arbitration/Requests/Case/Sexology for (among other things) "all articles dealing with transgender issues" remain in force. For the avoidance of doubt, these discretionary sanctions apply to any dispute regarding the proper article title, pronoun usage, or other manner of referring to any individual known to be or self-identifying as transgender, including but not limited to Chelsea/Bradley Manning.  Any sanctions imposed should be logged at the Sexology case, not this one.
 * 9) All editors, especially those whose behavior was subject to a finding in this case, are reminded to maintain decorum and civility when engaged in discussions on Wikipedia, and to avoid commentary that demeans any other person, intentionally or not.

For the Arbitration Committee, Rschen7754 01:41, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

Archived discussion

Motion regarding Manning naming dispute
By motion of the committee, finding of fact 22, regarding Baseball Bugs, has been replaced by the following:


 * During the course of the dispute, frequently accused other participants in the dispute of misconduct,  ; engaged in soapboxing based on his personal view of the article subject's actions    ; and needlessly personalised the dispute.

For the Arbitration Committee, AGK  [•] 22:25, 24 October 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Changes to arbitration clerk personnel
The clerk team would like to officially welcome as a trainee clerk.

The past month has seen the resignation of two clerks, we would like to extend our thanks to and  for their service to the team and wish them all the best for the future. For the arbitration clerks, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 03:29, 2 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Ebionites 3 closed
An arbitration case regarding the Ebionites has now closed and the final decision is viewable at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:
 * 1) and  are indefinitely prohibited from interacting with each other (subject to the ordinary exceptions).
 * 2) is indefinitely topic-banned from all pages relating to Ebionites, broadly construed.
 * 3) requested removal of his administrator rights on 1 November 2013, while these arbitration proceedings were in progress (log of removal). John Carter may regain these rights only through a new request for adminship.

For the Arbitration Committee, Bbb23 (talk) 16:51, 4 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Phil Sandifer desysopped and banned

 * For the purpose of these motions there were 11 active arbitrators, so 6 votes was a majority.

i) The Arbitration Committee's attention has been drawn to material authored by Phil Sandifer and published on a site operated by him. The material publicly reveals non-public personal information about a Wikipedia editor with whom Phil Sandifer has been in dispute on-wiki. The committee has been in contact with both parties and has established that the publication of the material was not inadvertent. In breaching policy, Phil Sandifer has engaged in conduct which is (a) unbecoming an administrator and (b) inappropriate for a member of the editing community.


 * Passed 9 to 2 at 18:24, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

ii) Accordingly, User:Phil Sandifer is desysopped. He may regain his permissions via a successful RFA.


 * Passed 8 to 3 at 18:24, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

iii) Additionally, User:Phil Sandifer is indefinitely banned from the English Wikipedia. He may request reconsideration of the ban no earlier than twelve months from the date on which this motion was passed.


 * Passed 7 to 3 (with 1 abstention) at 18:24, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Support (i): Roger Davies, AGK, David Fuchs, Timotheus Canens, Salvio giuliano, Worm That Turned, Risker, Newyorkbrad, SilkTork. Oppose (i): Kirill Lokshin, Carcharoth.


 * Support (ii): Roger Davies, AGK, Timotheus Canens, Salvio giuliano, Worm That Turned, Risker, Newyorkbrad, SilkTork. Oppose (ii): David Fuchs, Kirill Lokshin, Carcharoth.


 * Support (iii): Roger Davies, AGK, Timotheus Canens, Salvio giuliano, Worm That Turned, Newyorkbrad, SilkTork. Oppose (iii): David Fuchs, Kirill Lokshin, Carcharoth. Abstain (iii): Risker.


 * Inactive (i) (ii) (iii): Courcelles.

For the Arbitration Committee, AGK  [•] 18:24, 6 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

Discretionary sanctions review – draft 2
The Arbitration Committee is reviewing its discretionary sanctions system. Many editors kindly participated in a recent consultation for this review. The committee has taken into account all comments made in that consultation, and a second draft has now been published at WP:AC/DSR. Please review the new draft, and feel free to comment at WT:AC/DSR. For the Arbitration Committee, AGK  [•] 23:39, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Motion proposed regarding activity levels for holders of both CU and OS tools
A motion has been proposed regarding activity levels for holders of both CU and OS tools. if you wish to comment, please join the discussion at the motion on the motions page. Thanks. Carcharoth (talk) 01:39, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

Motion granting temporary local CheckUser permission to Arbitration Committee Election Scrutineers
The Arbitration Committee has resolved by that: For the purpose of scrutineering the 2013 Arbitration Committee elections, stewards User:Mathonius, User:Vituzzu, User:Matanya, and User:Tegel, appointed as scrutineers, are granted temporary local CheckUser permissions effective from the time of the passage of this motion until the certification of the election results.

For the Arbitration Committee, Bbb23 (talk) 17:56, 1 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

ACE 2013
FYI ACE 2013's results are over. --Vituzzu (talk) 01:16, 16 December 2013 (UTC) Copied over from talk page.

Changes to the Arbitration Committee
With the election concluded and the successful candidates formally appointed, with effect from 00:01 (UTC), 1 January 2014 the Arbitration Committee comprises:
 * 2014 Arbitration Committee members
 * - term expires 31 December 2015
 * – term expires 31 December 2015
 * – term expires 31 December 2014
 * – term expires 31 December 2014
 * – term expires 31 December 2014
 * – term expires 31 December 2015
 * – term expires 31 December 2015
 * – term expires 31 December 2015
 * – term expires 31 December 2015
 * – term expires 31 December 2014
 * – term expires 31 December 2015
 * – term expires 31 December 2014
 * – term expires 31 December 2015
 * – term expires 31 December 2014
 * – term expires 31 December 2014

Advanced permissions are authorised as follows for the newly-elected/re-elected arbitrators with immediate effect:
 * Advanced permissions for 2014 Arbitration Committee members
 * – will be assigned CheckUser and Oversight
 * – already holds Oversight, will be assigned CheckUser
 * – will be assigned CheckUser and Oversight
 * – already holds Oversight, will be assigned CheckUser
 * – already holds CheckUser and Oversight
 * – already holds CheckUser, will be assigned Oversight
 * – will be assigned CheckUser

The following arbitrators are retiring from the Committee on the expiry of their terms at 23:59 (UTC), 31 December 2013. Note that some of them may remain active on cases open at the end of their term, until such time as those cases are completed. The Committee is grateful to them for their service to the Committee and to the community and takes this opportunity to thank them for it.
 * Retiring 2013 Arbitration Committee members and changes to their permissions

Several retiring arbitrators have indicated they wish to work as functionaries. They will retain access to CheckUser and Oversight pending an upcoming annual review of the Functionaries team by the Committee. However:
 * has already relinquished CheckUser and Oversight.
 * is relinquishing CheckUser and Oversight at the end of his term.

For the Arbitration Committee, Risker (talk) 14:32, 18 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Arbitration/Requests/Case/Ottoman Empire–Turkey naming dispute closed
An arbitration case about the behaviour of with regards to the use of the terms 'Turkish' to 'Ottoman', has now closed and the final decision is available at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:

For the Arbitration Committee, — ΛΧΣ  21  Call me Hahc21 23:04, 23 December 2013 (UTC)
 * Archived discussion

Amendment to Arbitration/Requests/Case/Argentine History
The Committee has resolved by motion that:

For the Arbitration Committee, — ΛΧΣ  21  Call me Hahc21 00:28, 30 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion

28bytes resigns
Arbitrator-elect was elected by the community in this month's election. However, 28bytes has resigned by deciding not to take his seat on 1 January 2014, as was planned. 28bytes' resignation statement can be read on his user talk page.

In light of this resignation, and at 28bytes' request, his subscription to the arbitration, clerk, and functionaries mailing lists have been cancelled, his committee wiki account has been closed, and his checkuser and oversight access rights have been withdrawn. His access to the main mailing list archives had not yet been arranged.

Fourteen arbitrators, not fifteen, will now comprise the 2014 committee.

For the Arbitration Committee, AGK  [•] 13:31, 30 December 2013 (UTC)


 * Archived discussion