Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Corbridge/Archive

20 April 2011

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

''Please list evidence below this line. Remember to sign at the end of your section with 4 tilde characters " ~ "''

Summary
I believe that the users Corbridge, InaMaka, Getaway, 70114205215, JobsElihu, Keetoowah, at least three anonymous IPs and perhaps others are all socks of the same individual who has displayed a pattern of making hostile and unconstructive edits dating back to at least 2005.

I also believe, but cannot confirm, that this sockmaster has recently abandoned his most recent account, Corbridge, and started yet another sockpuppet, Palmtree6600.

It appears that the Sockmaster does not edit from multiple named accounts simultaneously. Rather, he engages in combative, POV editing for a period of time, accumulating a series of warnings, blocks and other complaints, then abandons the account and starts a new one. However, this is not a case of WP:CLEANSTART because the sockmaster never acknowledges his previous accounts and uses new accounts to evade blocks and avoid scrutiny.

In one instance, InaMaka admitted to making an edit from the IP 98.196.129.137 but claimed that it was a single case of forgetting to log in. However, the volume of the anon edits (200+ from 98.196.129.137 alone) suggests that this is not merely a case of an editor occasionally forgetting to log in, but rather intentional obfuscation.

Appendices

 * Appendix 1: List of unrelated, low-traffic articles edited by many or all of the socks.
 * Appendix 2: Nearly identical verbiage used in edit summaries across accounts.
 * Appendix 3: Examples of tendentious editing.
 * Appendix 4: Attempts at intervention/correction by other editors.

Reasoning
I believe the six named accounts and the anon IPs are all the work of a single sockmaster for three basic reasons: Timing of account creation/abandonment, multiple edits to several obscure, unrelated articles across accounts, and similar phrasing and tone in edit summaries and talk page discussions.

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I want to be clear that I have previously had run-ins with InaMaka and Corbridge, as our areas of interest overlap quite a bit. In Corbridge’s case, I opened an RfC/U on 6 April 2011. It was as I was pulling together supporting diffs that I began to notice commonalities with InaMaka. Then, upon further investigation, I discovered the larger pattern involving accounts that predate my involvement with Wikipedia.

Timing
24 December 2004: Keetoowah makes his first edit. Initial efforts include complex edits to Condoleezza Rice, Lawrence Kansas, James Naismith, Stem Cells, Bill Self, Robert Byrd and Dennis Moore.

3 December 2005: Keetoowah makes his final edit.

4 December 2005: Keetoowah is blocked for two months per ArbComm ruling re: legal threats.

January – May 2006: Edits as anon IPs, including 72.177.223.95 and 70.114.205.215. Areas of focus include Ward Churchill, Concoleezza Rice, James Naismith, Kansas, Chad “Corntassel” Smith and Stem cells

26 May 2006: User account 70114205215 is created. Initial efforts include high level edits to Ward Churchill, Condoleezza Rice, Stem cells, and James Naismith.

22 June 2006: User 70114205215 is blocked.

14 July 2006: User account Getaway is created. Initial efforts include complex edits to Condoleezza Rice, stem cell, Sam Brownback, Texas 22nd District, Ward Churchill and several notable Cherokee people.

28 September 2007: Getaway makes his final edit, following a series of short blocks and a Wikiquette alert for combative editing.

3 October 2007: JobsElihu account created.

26 October 2007: JobsElihu makes his final edit, following a comment on his talk page that he is a sock of Getaway

6 November 2007: User account InaMaka is created. Immediately begins making multiple high level edits on articles including Bill Self, Rush Limbaugh, Condoleezza Rice, Jenna Hager, Mark Mangino and the University of Kansas.

5 November 2010: InaMaka is blocked for one week for tendentious editing. InaMaka has not made any edits since that block, after making 4,300+ betwen November 2007 and November 2010.

8 November 2010: The user account Corbridge is created, and immediately begins making multiple edits per day with a high level of proficiency.

6 April 2011: Corbridge is notified of an RfC/U regarding his conduct

15:33 GMT 8 April 2011: Corbridge makes his last edit

15:48 GMT 8 April 2011: Palmtree6600 account is created. Initial edits include facts about University of Kansas basketball, a talk page argument regarding the population of Houston, and edits to Kristi Noem.

Editing a wide range of unrelated, low-traffic pages
Naturally, considering the very large number of editors who participate in Wikipedia, there's bound to be a certain amount of overlap between articles edited by a number of different editors. This is particularly true among editors who focus on a particular area of personal interest (politics, sports, music, film, etc.). I would never presume that a simple commonality in articles edited would indicate sockpuppetry.

That being said, when two or more editors display a strikingly similar pattern of edits across a wide swath of unrelated, low-traffic articles, it raises some questions.

In this case, Corbridge, InaMaka, Getaway, 70114205215, JobsElihu, Keetoowah and the anon IPs all share a keen interest in:

•	Specific localities in southeast Texas: Spring, Texas; The Woodlands, Texas; Texas 22nd Congressional District

•	Duke Lacrosse rape investigation

•	University of Kansas basketball players and coaches

•	Chad “Corntassel” Smith, the current chief of the Cherokee Nation

•	Dan Patrick, a Texas state senator and radio host

•	Mark Parkinson, a former Kansas governor

•	Karen Handel, a former Georgia Secretary of State

•	Republican members of Congress and candidates, ranging from the well-known to the obscure

•	Stem cells and “snowflake children”

•	Jenna Hager (formerly Bush)

•	Ward Churchill, a controversial academic and political activist at the University of Colorado

•	Condoleezza Rice

•	Sam Brownback

A longer list of low traffic, unrelated articles that have been edited by by multiple socks (with diffs) can be found at Appendix 1.

Edit summaries and policy debates
Finally, I believe Corbridge, InaMaka, Getaway, JobsElihu, 70114205215, Keetoowah and the anon IPs are all socks of the same sockmaster because of striking similarities in the language and tone of edit summaries and in their somewhat uncommon use of the quote parameter in refs.

In edit summaries, the named accounts and the Anon IPs all use the phrase "commentary of Wikipedians" frequently. Of course, this isn't remarkable in itself. However, the repetition and similarity are notable. They also share a peculiar affinity for the words “hooey,” “hogwash”  and “horse hockey.” See diffs in Appendix 2.

Conclusion
While the alleged socks have not been editing concurrently (except in the case of the anon IPs), this case should be taken extremely seriously because of the disruptive, hostile and agenda-driven nature of the edits of this sockmaster. We’re talking about thousands of edits, mostly to BLPs, over the course of at least six years – the damage done to the project by this editor is immeasurable. What’s more, his migration to a new account each time consequences are leveled for his behavior makes clear that he is not editing in good faith and has no interest in respecting either the letter or the spirit of Wikipedia policy.

I’ve included a selection of talk page comments from each of the accounts in question to illustrate this sockmaster’s tendentious editing (Appendix 3), as well as corrective action that has been taken by other editors against the four most prolific socks: Keetoowah, Getaway, InaMaka and Corbridge (Appendix 4). That, combined with the edit summaries and the diffs provided provide more than enough evidence to ban this user, perhaps permanently.

I don’t know enough about Wikipedia (been editing for just under a year) to know whether it’s possible to prevent this sockmaster from just creating a new account and popping back up in a week or two. If it is, I think such an action is certainly appropriate. Arbor8 (talk) 12:58, 20 April 2011 (UTC)

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * and are ✅ matches. The rest of the named accounts are, no comment on the IPs.  TN X Man  12:39, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Blocked and tagged the confirmed sock, blocked the master 48h for socking. Relist if any of the stale accounts become active. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 23:51, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

13 May 2011

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

''Please list evidence below this line. Remember to sign at the end of your section with 4 tilde characters " ~ "''

For further evidence regarding user's history of sockpuppetry and other accounts mentioned below, see '


 * Insists on describing Barack Obama, Sr. as a polygamist/bigamist and using the same tortured logic as a previous sock InaMaka to support inclusion.
 * InaMaka in Sept. 2010
 * Distressed in April/May 2011


 * Same curt, aggressive tone used when other editors question his conduct.
 * Corbridge in March 2011
 * in May 2011


 * Advanced editing (creating disambiguation pages) within days of creating account.
 * 


 * Same syntax as other socks (commentary of a Wikipedian)
 * Distressed in May 2011
 * See previous sockpuppet investigation Appendix 2


 * Account created same day as last edit from one of his anon IP socks. Anon IP's last edit and new sock's first edit were to the same, rather obscure, article.
 * Anon
 * Distressed Arbor8 (talk) 16:50, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * - Corbridge socked before; this could be that account again. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 17:29, 13 May 2011 (UTC)
 * ✅. TN X Man  17:37, 13 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Both indeffed, and tagged. T. Canens (talk) 19:31, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

19 May 2011

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

''Please list evidence below this line. Remember to sign at the end of your section with 4 tilde characters " ~ "''

Editing the same array of low-traffic, unrelated articles

as other socks

Gregory R. Ball

Raj Goyle

Russell Robinson

Karen Handel

Valerie Red-Horse

Same verbage in edit summaries (hogwash, commentary of a Wikipedian)

as other socks







Wikiquote

Contributed to very low-traffic Wikiquote Kristi Noem, a page that was created and largely edited by Corbridge. Arbor8 (talk) 17:56, 19 May 2011 (UTC)

Prior admission

One of Corbridge's suspected socks, InaMaka (never investigated because the account had gone stale), admitted to making edits from this IP.

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
I'm sorry, but checkusers generally do not disclose connections between named accounts and IPs. TN X Man 18:29, 19 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Ah, my mistake. Sorry! Arbor8 (talk) 18:46, 19 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Had this IP edited since this case was opened, I would've blocked it. As it stands now, though, it's a little stale, so I'm going to let it go for now. Relist if it becomes active. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 13:38, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

12 September 2011

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

New editor (>1 month) editing the same constellation of unrelated subjects (conservative politicians, University of Kansas basketball players, the paternal relations of Barack Obama and people of Cherokee heritage) as user Corbridge, who has been blocked twice already for socking. WP:DUCK.

Here are some of MikeJackson's edits. The edits of Corbridge and previous socks Distressed and Palmtree6600 can be found here:

Conservative politicans: Christine O'Donnell, Rick Scott, Daniel Imperato, Bob Turner

University of Kansas basketball players: Tyrel Reed, Russell Robinson, Sherron Collins, Aaron Miles

Paternal relations of Barack Obama: Family of Barack Obama, ,

People of Cherokee descent: Valerie Red-Horse Arbor8 (talk) 17:39, 12 September 2011 (UTC)

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
I'm sorry, but all of the accounts in the archive are. TN X Man 17:50, 12 September 2011 (UTC)
 * So it's okay to create a new account to evade an indefinite block for socking? This user has done some real damage in the past. I'm not opposed to him editing again, but I do think it's best that everyone is honest about who they are and what sanctions they've faced previously. Arbor8 (talk) 19:02, 12 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Technical data is only held on users for a limited time, so a check cannot be run. We are not proposing that abusive sock-puppetry is excusable, but that it cannot be investigated with the CheckUser tool in this case. Please stand by, and an administrator will look for non-technical signs of sock-puppetry. AGK  [&bull; ] 21:31, 12 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Makes sense, thanks. Arbor8 (talk) 22:05, 12 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Per WP:DUCK I've blocked and tagged MikeJackson as a sock of Corbridge. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 03:10, 14 September 2011 (UTC)

20 September 2011

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

Per WP:DUCK:

Editing the same range of unrelated topics as sockmaster Corbridge and blocked sockpuppets MikeJackson, Distressed, Palmtree6600 et al, including people of Cherokee descent, conservative American politicians, victims/accusers in high profile rape cases, and the relative size of the Houston metro area, as well as specific low-traffic articles Chad "Corntassel" Smith, Debbie Riddle, Michael Reagan, and Michael L. Williams.
 * Editing patterns

See Appendix 1 from May 2011 SPI as well as:

IP76: ,
 * Info critical of victims/accusers in high profile rape cases

IP76: ,
 * Relative size of Houston -- asserting Houston is larger than other metro areas

Palmtree6600 (confirmed sock): ,

8 April 2011: Account Palmtree6600 is created
 * Timing

21 April 2011: Account Palmtree6600 is blocked for sockpuppetry

28 April 2011: Account Distressed is created, first edit is to Gregory R. Ball

13 May 2011: Sock Distressed is blocked, and sockmaster Corbridge is indef account creation blocked

8 June 2011: IP 76 makes first edit by voting in AfD discussion and citing

notability guidelines.

15 August 2011: Account MikeJackson is created.

18 August 2011: IP stops editing after ~6 weeks of steady edits

14 September 2011: MikeJackson is blocked as a sock of Corbridge

16 September 2011: IP resumes editing

Appendix 2 from May 2011 SPI.
 * Same verbiage:

IP 76: ,

IP76 resolves to Spring, Texas, the same place suspected stale sock InaMaka admitted to making anon IP edits from [here]. Arbor8 (talk) 18:17, 20 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Location

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

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * IP blocked 2 weeks. —  Hello Annyong  (say whaaat?!) 23:56, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

06 June 2012

 * Suspected sockpuppets




 * User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

Per WP:Duck, user Edmonton7838 is clearly a sock of Corbridge based on the following evidence:

(1) Using the same unique verbiage,

(2) Editing the same constellation of unrelated topics,

(3) Timing of account creation/abandonment

(4) Same style of combative editing and claims that any disagreement is "censorship"

(5) Refactoring edits of anon IP 76.31.116.153, which has been named in previous SPIs related to this account, and which resolves to the same place (Spring, TX) as another anon IP that named sock InaMaka confirmed editing from

 (1) Same unique verbiage as previous socks 

Commentary of a Wikipedian: , , , , 

Hogwash:  

 (2) Editing same constellation of unrelated topics as previous socks: 

Kansas Basketball , ,   

Relative Size of Houston , 

Chad "Corntassel" Smith   

Cherokee Nation 

Republican political figures    

 (3) Timing  (Note: For context, much this is copied from previous SPIs; new stuff is in bold)

*19 September 2011: IP stops editing
 * 24 December 2004: Keetoowah makes his first edit. Initial efforts include complex edits to Condoleezza Rice, Lawrence Kansas, James Naismith, Stem Cells, Bill Self, Robert Byrd and Dennis Moore.
 * 3 December 2005: Keetoowah makes his final edit.
 * 4 December 2005: Keetoowah is blocked for two months per ArbComm ruling re: legal threats.
 * January – May 2006: Edits as anon IPs, including 72.177.223.95 and 70.114.205.215. Areas of focus include Ward Churchill, Concoleezza Rice, James Naismith, Kansas, Chad “Corntassel” Smith and Stem cells
 * 26 May 2006: User account 70114205215 is created. Initial efforts include high level edits to Ward Churchill, Condoleezza Rice, Stem cells, and James Naismith.
 * 22 June 2006: User 70114205215 is blocked.
 * 14 July 2006: User account Getaway is created. Initial efforts include complex edits to Condoleezza Rice, stem cell, Sam Brownback, Texas 22nd District, Ward Churchill and several notable Cherokee people.
 * 28 September 2007: Getaway makes his final edit, following a series of short blocks and a Wikiquette alert for combative editing.
 * 3 October 2007: JobsElihu account created.
 * 26 October 2007: JobsElihu makes his final edit, following a comment on his talk page that he is a sock of Getaway
 * 6 November 2007: User account InaMaka is created. Immediately begins making multiple high level edits on articles including Bill Self, Rush Limbaugh, Condoleezza Rice, Jenna Hager, Mark Mangino and the University of Kansas.
 * 5 November 2010: InaMaka is blocked for one week for tendentious editing. InaMaka has not made any edits since that block, after making 4,300+ betwen November 2007 and November 2010.
 * 8 November 2010: The user account Corbridge is created, and immediately begins making multiple edits per day with a high level of proficiency.
 * 6 April 2011: Corbridge is notified of an RfC/U regarding his conduct
 * 15:33 GMT 8 April 2011: Corbridge makes his last edit
 * 15:48 GMT 8 April 2011: Palmtree6600 account is created. Initial edits include facts about University of Kansas basketball, a talk page argument regarding the population of Houston, and edits to Kristi Noem.
 * 21 April 2011: Account Palmtree6600 is blocked as a sock of Corbridge
 * 28 April 2011: Account Distressed is created
 * 13 May 2011: Distressed is blocked as a sock of Corbridge, and sockmaster Corbridge is indef account creation blocked
 * 8 June 2011: IP 76.31.116.153 makes first edit by voting in AfD discussion and citing notability guidelines.
 * 15 August 2011: Account MikeJackson is created.
 * 18 August 2011: IP stops editing after ~6 weeks of steady edits
 * 14 September 2011: MikeJackson is blocked as a sock of Corbridge
 * 16 September 2011: IP resumes editing

*4 October 2011: Wikinews account Edmonton7838 created

'''*8 October 2011: Edmonton7838 account created automatically. Initial edits include adding wikilinks, changing info box templates, and creating redirects.'''

 (4) Combative editing and censorship claims 

Combative editing: : "Go edit another article. Oh, by the way, I will continue to edit Elizabeth Warren."

"That's fine. That's your prerogative as omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Wikipedian admin. Yes, I know that I am not to question the great Oz, but like Toto I feel the need to pull back the curtain on the actions of admins. Have a good day! I'll go now and just wait for you to find a reason to block me for expressing my opinion which just happened to be different than yours. Best,"



(guessing that was supposed to say "I do NOT have to..")

(edit summary)

(edit summary)

Crying censorship:    

 (5) Refactored IP edit 

As IP: As Edmonton7838:

This IP was mentioned in a prior Corbridge SPI here Arbor8 (talk) 19:35, 6 June 2012 (UTC)

Comments by other users
''Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.''
 * It's obvious from the earliest edits that Edmonton wasn't a "new" editor, and the probability of any "not-new" editor exhibiting the same editing tendencies is very slim. Particularly damning is the similar language used, for example, the edit summaries of Corbridge and Edmonton - both with the unusual turn of phrase unsourced commentary of a Wikipedian.  There's lots of other examples even scanning the edit summaries.  Yeah, it's ducktastic.  --HighKing (talk) 13:01, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
The choice of edits and potential IP links strongly indicate that both live in the same city. Both styles and methods are a match, as are a number of topics. Would like another opinion, but it is quacking for me. Dennis Brown -  2&cent;   &copy;  11:21, 9 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Agree. They behave the same. ⋙–Berean–Hunter—►  17:37, 14 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Sock indef blocked and tagged per confirmation. Dennis Brown - 2&cent;    &copy;  13:19, 17 June 2012 (UTC)

13 May 2013

 * Suspected sockpuppets




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

User ExclusiveAgent has established a pattern of editing the same unrelated, low-traffic articles as the multitudinous prior socks (see diffs below). Additionally, EA uses the same unique edit summary verbiage ("Commentary of a Wikipedian") as has been previously discussed in this SPI. WP:DUCK


 * ExclusiveAgent edits to articles/topics previously discussed in this SPI:

,, , ,
 * "Commentary of a Wikipedian"

,, , , , ,
 * University of Kansas athletics

,, , ,
 * Conservatives

, ,
 * Texas

EA: Prev sock 1:
 * Additional overlap between ExclusiveAgent and prior socks:
 * The Woodlands, Texas

EA: Previous sock:
 * Elihu Harris

EA: Prev sock 1: Prev sock 2:
 * Jenna Bush Hager

EA: Prev sock:
 * Elizabeth Warren Cherokee ancestry controversy

EA: Prev sock:
 * Jean Shodorf

EA: Prev sock:
 * Alveda King

EA: Prev sock1: Prev sock 2:
 * Laura Pendergest-Holt

EA: Prev sock 1: Prev sock 2:
 * Daniel Imperato

EA: Prev sock 1: Prev sock 2:
 * Dan Patrick (Texas politician)

EA: Prev sock: Prev sock 2: Prev sock 3: Arbor8 (talk) 20:57, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Family of Barack Obama - paternal relations:

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

Noticing that ExclusiveAgent stopped editing soon after being accused of being a Corbridge Sockpuppet. This suggests that the account was in fact a sockpuppet, and that the user migrated to a new sockpuppet account. LK (talk) 16:04, 24 September 2019 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
I see a lot of work has been done above, but alas the dots I am seeing are way too far apart to be connected for Checkuser purposes. Latest edits in the archive of this case are stale, and the diffs above merely indicate edits to the same article. However they aren't identical edits (for the first four articles I checked), so there's nothing to clearly connect things together. If there is more information available, let me know; otherwise I don't see how a checkuser can help. Frank &#124;  talk  12:20, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Actually, it doesn't appear that CU was requested, and since everything is stale, it wouldn't be of much use anyway. ​—DoRD (talk)​ 12:31, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
 * I didn't request Checkuser for that reason. Given the editing/behavioral evidence, I think WP:DUCK more than suffices. The result of the previous SPI may be relevant here: Arbor8 (talk) 13:23, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Actually, all six prior SPIs are useful as evidence: |Sockpuppet_investigations/Corbridge/Archive Arbor8 (talk) 13:29, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
 * What is the purpose of this page if not to request checkuser attention? Frank  &#124;  talk  15:23, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
 * For various reasons, well over half of submitted SPI cases don't require the use of CU and can be handled based on behavioral evidence alone. ​—DoRD (talk)​ 15:44, 14 May 2013 (UTC)
 * And the archives from this page allow us to connect recent WP:ducks to new cases via CU sometimes. We are sock hoarders.  Dennis Brown - 2¢  - © - @ - Join WER 04:45, 15 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I don't see the connection other than he likes editing a contentious article that lots of people like to edit, for good or bad. Closing without prejudice if edit that actually link behavior come to pass. Dennis Brown - 2¢  - © - @ - Join WER 16:35, 15 May 2013 (UTC)