Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Careful Cowboy/Archive

02 November 2014

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
 * Editor interaction utility


 * Editor Interaction Analyzer between Careful Cowboy and Logical Cowboy: http://tools.wmflabs.org/sigma/editorinteract.py?user1=Careful+Cowboy&user2=Logical+Cowboy&user3=&startdate=20040101&enddate=20141101&ns=


 * Editor Interaction Analyzer between William Avery and Logical Cowboy: http://tools.wmflabs.org/sigma/editorinteract.py?user1=&user2=Logical+Cowboy&user3=William+Avery&startdate=20040101&enddate=20141101&ns=


 * Editor Interaction Analyzer between all three accounts: http://tools.wmflabs.org/sigma/editorinteract.py?user1=Careful+Cowboy&user2=Logical+Cowboy&user3=William+Avery&startdate=20040101&enddate=20141101&ns= Vezzoso (talk) 06:05, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

See edit summaries here: http://tools.wmflabs.org/sigma/timeline.py?user1=Logical+Cowboy&user2=Careful+Cowboy&startdate=20040101&enddate=20141101&page=Modesto%2C_California


 * Just one example of the similarities with the way they write:
 * 1) Logical Cowboy — 01:43, January 18, 2010 (diff | hist) Modesto, California (if notable then write an article about him)
 * 2) Careful Cowboy — 20:39, May 28, 2009 (diff | hist) Modesto, California (if notable then please write an article) --Vezzoso (talk) 11:54, 3 November 2014 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''

I'm not sure how much CU investigation would do, especially in re: Careful. As per WP:CHK, "Data on users (like their IP address) are retained for a limited period on Wikimedia Foundation sites." The age of the supposed sockmaster would probably preclude anything the CUs could do about him. The alleged sock User:William_Avery is a 12 year old account, and the two cowboys seem like they could be the same user, but they do not seem to be abusive. Ham tech  person  04:08, 4 November 2014 (UTC)

Yes that's what I thought. I don't think William Avery is involved, just someone with similar interests but I'm 99.9% sure the two cowboys are the same person. --Vezzoso (talk) 07:14, 4 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Many thanks to Hamtechperson, for informing me of this accusation. I find this accusing account User:Vezzoso somewhat strange. To file an accusation of sockpuppetry within a couple of days of starting to edit, before the account is autoconfirmed, is far stranger than any resemblance between the supposed sock accounts listed. The only similarity of interests that I have with those other accounts arises from the fact that I have many articles on my watchlist that are frequently vandalised or the target of other unconstructive edits. As far as I know there's no rule against copying an apposite edit summary from the article history, such as "If you think he's notable, write an article about him", when reverting unconstructive edits. So please bear that in mind. William Avery (talk) 08:51, 4 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Looking at the the cowboy accounts I notice that Careful Cowboy, only made one edit after Logical Cowboy started editing, so there is hardly any basis for an accusation of abusive use, even if they are the same person. What a waste of time. William Avery (talk) 09:01, 4 November 2014 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * To have a valid case to run a CU, please indicate what is the offending behavior between the alleged accounts. - Mailer Diablo 03:55, 3 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Most of the edits from these accounts, especially Logical Cowboy and Careful Cowboy seem to be disruptive against editors with good intentions. It seems to be either his way or it results in an edit war. I've done some investigating and I'm 99.9% sure they are the same person. Careful Cowboy stopped editing when Logical Cowboy created his account and they've edited many of the same pages, leave the same kind of edit summery and when Logical Cowboy started editing he seemed to go straight into behaviour of either an admin or someone who had similar advanced experience on Wikipedia. William Avery seemed to have many edits in common too and the same edit summaries but I'm not entirely sure if he is involved. Logical Cowboy and Careful Cowboy's names are related on top of all the similarities so I think those two accounts need some kind of investigation. --Vezzoso (talk) 11:01, 3 November 2014 (UTC)


 * It seems that the two cowboy accounts are probably the same person, but there has still been no reason given to regard the use of the two accounts as in any way abusive. The comment from Vezzoso immediately above suggests disruptive editing and edit warring, and if so then they should be dealt with in the appropriate venues, but unless there has been disruptive activity which would have been less disruptive, or not disruptive at all, had the user just continued with the original account, then the fact that the user changed from one account to another four and three quarter years ago is completely irrelevant, so this is not a case of sockpuppetry. The evidence that William Avery is involved is far too weak to warrant any action. The editor who uses the pseudonym "JamesBWatson" (talk) 12:29, 7 November 2014 (UTC)