Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/LE/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

Background: Jauerback indeffed LE in April of 2019 after LE announced their refusal to comply with WP:NOR. LE had edited from 12.144.5.2 since 2003(!), openly since 2009 (see note at User talk:12.144.5.2); Bbb23 CU-softblocked it in 2018 without taking action against LE, and then NinjaRobotPirate gave it a 2-year CUblock about 2 months after that expired (8 months after the indef of LE).

Per EIR, there is substantial overlap between 96.250.80.27 and LE/12.144.5.2 to disparate topics, many with the unifying attribute of records (oldest X, longest Y, tallest Z). It was in the context of longevity lists that LE talked their way into a block. shows a shared desire to list birth years at List of longest-reigning monarchs. shows a shared interest in 270 Park Ave. And then also some quite specific overlaps like List of Paramount Pictures excecutives and Mr. Prospector.

IP 96 geolocates to Carmel, NY. Geolocation doesn't work on IP 12, but per it is allocated to Pragmatic Patents Industries, based in... Carmel, NY. Population 34,000.

If it edits like a duck and geolocates like a duck... -- Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she/they) 00:55, 14 November 2021 (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
'''This case is being reviewed by Tamzin as part of her training as a clerk. Please allow her to process the entire case without interference. You may pose any questions or concerns either on her talk page or on this page.'''
 * Self-clerking due to obviousness. : LE has been active on this IP since August of 2020, so please block 96.250.80.27 for one year. Thanks. --  Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she/they) 00:55, 14 November 2021 (UTC)
 * . --Blablubbs (talk) 01:06, 14 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Tagging master. --  Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she/they) 01:31, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

Suspected sockpuppets



 * Tools: Editor interaction utility • Interaction Timeline • User compare report Auto-generated every hour.

Returned to editing shortly after previous 2-year block expired. Fifth edit back was to Henry Howard, 15th Earl of Arundel, a page edited by LE's other IP sock, 96.250.80.27, in September. And then a little bit later... back to 270 Park Avenue, also edited by 96, as discussed in the last SPI. Then we have a defense of OR and unverifiable content here, the same thing LE was blocked for. Given that LE was on this IP continuously from 2003 to the time of his block, there's no doubt that this is still him. -- Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she/they) 19:57, 12 January 2022 (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

 * Well. I can't believe I'm about to say this. But like I said, he's been on this IP since 2003, and has made quite a point out of the fact that he owns the IP and that it is for his personal use only. . Conventional wisdom on IP blocks is to go for as long as you know the person's been on the IP. Sometimes when the number gets big I'll shave a fraction off, but you also don't usually have someone very clearly broadcasting that this is their IP and their IP only and always will be—he even hung on to this IP throughout a 2-year block. : Rounding down to the year, . --  Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she/they) 19:57, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
 * For anyone looking for context on length here, I ran . (Durations are in months. 18 years = 216 months.) All of the top lengths on there are indefs that were donwgraded to tempblocks (so 10 years indeffed, turned into a 6-year tempblock, equals a 16-year block; per the documentation that should not be happening, but it is). Once you get past the first ~10, though, if you paste some of those IPs into Special:Log/block, you'll see a lot of 10-year blocks. The longest single block I can find is SQL's 14-year block of 206.78.41.62. So, the block I've requested would surpass that. To justify that, I would point to two things:
 * I don't know of any comparable example of someone openly and notoriously using the same IP for almost 20 years, where we can verify that the IP is registered to a company that he runs—I can present evidence verifying that latter claim if desired—and where he's so made a point of that fact. It is the most decisively static IP I have ever encountered on Wikipedia.
 * We do have cases where admins have indeffed IPs under similar circumstances, for instance User talk:72.177.68.38. And indeed I don't think an IP indef would be unreasonable here, but I dislike them as a matter of principle.
 * So in other words, while this is an exceptionally long block, it's an exceptional set of circumstances. --  Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she/they) 21:20, 12 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Blocked for ten. GeneralNotability (talk) 23:22, 12 January 2022 (UTC)