Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/OttawaGuy/Archive

Suspected sockpuppets



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Summary This is a golden oldie. Back in 2006, a set of socks with an interest in related subjects (Keenan Wellar, LiveWorkPlay, SchoolNet, Ingenia Communications Corporation) was blocked in Requests for checkuser/Case/OttawaGuy.

The recent (May 2021)  account shares all the same interests, and has disclosed on their user page that they are Keenan Weller. Since they have failed to disclose their COI on a number of subjects such as SchoolNet and Ingentia Communications, I looked deeper into their edits. Conclusion: Iamthekanadian is obviously a sock of OttawaGuy.

Evidence

Sockmaster
 * adds link to Keenan Weller’s organization LiveWorkplay.
 * adds a redlink for “Sociopreneur Keenan Weller" to a DAB page.
 * Adds links to Keenan Weller and LiveWorkPlay, and a quote from Keenan Weller in one edit.
 * Creates Ingenia Communications Corporation, which, according to SchoolNet, is where Keenan Weller worked at the time.
 * Adds “Keenan Wellar, Sociopreneur’’ to Carleton University article.


 * The 2006 socks SteveSchreiber and TalkinTech both do similar things, such as again adding "Keenan Wellar, Sociopreneur" to the Carleton University article, with the same edit comment.

New sock Iamthekanadian
 * new account since May 27 2021
 * has disclosed himself to be Keenan Weller
 * recreated LiveWorkPlay, which had been deleted
 * makes 7 new edits to Ingenia Communications Corporation
 * Makes 10 edits to Schoolnet
 * Fails to disclose COI properly on LiveWorkPlay, Draft:United Way East Ottawa, Schoolnet, Ingenia Communications Corporation and Ottawa Board of Trade. Ultimately begrudgingly discloses connection to first two articles. --- Possibly &#9742; 00:20, 21 October 2021 (UTC)

More WP:DUCK evidence One of many, many similarities. --- Possibly &#9742; 20:50, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * In 2007 one of OttawaGuy's socks,, adds "Other notables from the former Ingenia include Keenan Wellar who represented the company at http://www.isoc.org/isoc/whatis/conferences/inet/97/proceedings/G5/G5_2.HTM" (diff)
 * In 2021 Iamthekanadian adds the same link, now archived: "The project moved with its developer Keenan Wellar from Ingenia Communications Corporation to charitable organization LiveWorkPlay... " (diff)

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

Sorry, I don't know quite how to do this (respond here) so I hope this will suffice - I only discovered this page because of a strange post left for me on my talk page and figured out how to get here. I have nothing to do with this. I have never had a Wikipedia account before. I am trying to follow these references from 2006. I was not involved in any of that and had no awareness of it, but certainly it was a person(s) who was involved in topics or subjects associated with me - I cannot tell if it was a fan or an enemy.

I created my account in 2021 because a long time volunteer with our organization told me a listing (article) for LiveWorkPlay had disappeared. I checked it out, found out about the old article, figured out how to ask about helping to fix it, was advised to start a new one, etc. Yes, I was a new user who had a lot to learn about COI and related issues. This also resulted in my being "outed" - I wasn't interested in hiding my identity anyway, but I have since learned that this is considered a serious attack and I should have asked for help at that time - I had wrongly assumed at that time that in not hiding anything, even my identity, I would be able to move on as a contributor.

If you look at any of the articles or edits I have been involved with there is nothing nefarious about any of it. As would not be unusual, I started looking at articles of interest to me, and even wanting to link to them in sharing things about myself. If I made the articles worse in some way, or did something to them to advance myself in some way, then please identify that, but that was definitely not my intent. To the best of my knowledge I have not edited any articles for more than a month, as it seems everything I do is considered COI, so while trying to understand if, when, or how I move forward as a contributor, the only interactions I have had are unrelated to any of my actual writing.

At this point having this account is yielding nothing but sadness, including one after another of false accusations. I don't think this is what Wikipedia is supposed to be. If there is something wrong with an article or edit, why not be specific, fix it, tell me about it, whatever would be productive and make things better. I have nothing to do with any account from 2006 or any other year, and this is the only account I have ever had.

I note that Sockpuppet_investigations/SPI/Guidance says in part:

''If an accusation on this page is "bad faith" (an editor making a fake case for an "attack" or to prevent their own editing being examined) then you may wish to say so briefly, but cases on this page will be decided based upon evidence of misuse of accounts only. You do not have to defend yourself against other claims, however bad, or engage in discussion about them. You may wish to note that the claim is not relevant to sock puppetry. Claims and issues that are not relevant to account and IP abuse will almost always be ignored by the clerks and checkusers, and will often be removed.''

I think this (the above) is appropriate here - it seems to me that this sock puppetry claim is part of an ongoing issue of COI concerns about me, or other ongoing negative thoughts and feelings that are not resolved. To me the COI issue has already been dealt with, and has now been taken to a new forum, and it doesn't seem like that is how this is supposed to work. Iamthekanadian (talk) 20:05, 21 October 2021 (UTC)


 * Moved 's comments to the correct spot. I didn't read them, as this is all too obvious, WP:DUCK. --- Possibly &#9742; 20:27, 21 October 2021 (UTC)


 * The comment above is a further misuse of this process. Iamthekanadian (talk) 20:38, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Not at all. You had put your comments in the section reserved for administrators, clerks and checkusers, and I moved them to the proper section. The WP:DUCK is frequently referred to during SPIs.  --- Possibly &#9742; 20:53, 21 October 2021 (UTC)


 * The duck reference is just a furtherance of your use of a false sock puppet accusation as attempted vengeance for other matters for which you were supposedly moving on from. If this effort proves unsatisfactory - which it will since this obviously isn't a legitimate claim - you will no doubt continue the pattern through other means. I will continue to encourage you to direct your energies more productively and positively. Iamthekanadian (talk) 21:09, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * It's a standard to term to refer to a preponderance of evidence that makes the sockpuppeting obvious. --- Possibly &#9742; 21:17, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, you already made your false accusation of sockpuppetry, and by ignoring the content of my response and making your duck reference, it only serves to further demonstrate that this is personal and vengeful. It is bizarre, in fact. I looked at your example of how I made "7 new edits" to Ingenia_Communications_Corporation. Did you actually look at what I did? The article doesn't mention me in any way and I daresay I made it better. What is it about the actual changes there that are problematic? I worked there until 1997, that means I can't fix a broken reference or tidy up a sentence? Ridiculous. Iamthekanadian (talk) 21:31, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Just relax. There is a significant amount of evidence pointing to you evading a block, and it will be evaluated by a clerk, administrator or checkuser. That's all this is about. Save your breath, and just wait for the results.  --- Possibly &#9742; 21:38, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Sockpuppet_investigations/SPI/Guidance "A sockpuppet inquiry case may only be opened if there is evidence or good cause to suspect that there has been abuse of multiple accounts, or IPs." That is not what is happening here, at all. You are seeking vengeance for other matters, there is no sock puppet issue here. Iamthekanadian (talk) 22:06, 21 October 2021 (UTC)

Note: Harassment "The fact that an editor has posted personal information or edits under their own name, making them easily identifiable through online searches, is not an excuse to post the results of "opposition research". Dredging up their off-site opinions to repeatedly challenge their edits can be a form of harassment, just as doing so regarding their past edits on other Wikipedia articles may be." Iamthekanadian (talk) 21:44, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Please point to where anyone has posted something about you that is not already posted somewhere on Wikipedia. --- Possibly &#9742; 21:47, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Please read the policy again. Just because I was outed previously and did not have it removed, the availability of my identity does not give you permission to use that information for harassment. Iamthekanadian (talk) 22:02, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Scratch that. It's pretty clear, based on the above evidence, that a) you've been using Wikipedia for personal promotion for a long time by creating articles on yourself and places you work for, b) have failed to disclose multiple COIs on various articles, despite being requested to do so what must have been a half dozen times, and c) are also evading an old block for sockpuppeting. Assuming these are all true, which seems highly likely, we do not need editors who behave this way as they bring down the wiki. That's my last reply to you here.  --- Possibly &#9742; 21:52, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * What a bizarre allegation. You believe that I set my alarm clock for 15 years to evade a block so I could promote myself, including edits to articles where I am not mentioned and all I did was fix a broken reference. Also, this is at least the third time you have promised to end your correspondence with me, and instead you have just taken up new avenues of harassment. Iamthekanadian (talk) 22:01, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * --- Possibly &#9742; 22:23, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
 * "That's my last reply to you here. --- Possibly ☎ 21:52, 21 October 2021 (UTC)" Iamthekanadian (talk) 22:40, 21 October 2021 (UTC)

Reframed without the vendetta mindset, I took out the original author's fluffy language and turned it into a factual statement with a working link instead of a broken link. Pure evil. Iamthekanadian (talk) 22:20, 21 October 2021 (UTC)

I created an account in 2021, true. I was outed as to my identity, and did not have this removed, true. I recreated LiveWorkPlay - true - having gone through the full draft process, and thus, the issue is closed, save for your bringing it back, inappropriately, via this method. Yes, I edited Ingenia and SchoolNet - what about the edits does not demonstrate appropriate improvement to the articles? What does it have to do with sockpuppetry, multiple accounts, IPs... nothing. Iamthekanadian (talk) 22:47, 21 October 2021 (UTC)

Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments

 * Closing with no action taken. I looked at this from two different points of view.  First, is Iamthekanadian the same person as OttawaGuy?  It's certainly possible, maybe even likely, but far from certain.  If nothing else, I looked at the two most recent versions of LiveWorkPlay (the ones deleted in 2018 and in 2021).  They're entirely different text, with almost zero overlap in sources used (I found a single shared reference).  Second, would the requirement of WP:BP to prevent imminent or continuing damage and disruption to Wikipedia be met?  I don't think so.  I looked at their edits, and while I can certainly see that there's COI issues, I can't convince myself that their editing has been disruptive.  If I was sure of one of those but uncertain of the other, I might block, but I can't see taking any action when I'm unsure of either.  If there's COI or UPE issues, that can be dealt with in other forums. -- RoySmith (talk) 21:51, 19 November 2021 (UTC)