Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2007-03-26/Arbitration report

The Arbitration Committee opened two cases this week, and closed one case.

Closed case

 * Starwood: A case involving links to Starwood Festival-related articles from various pages.  Paul Pigman, who brought the case, alleged that Rosencomet "persistently and systematically" added these links, perhaps to an extent that violates WP:SPAM, and raised allegations against several other editors, which they have denied.  As a result of the case, Rosencomet was cautioned "to avoid aggressive editing of articles when there is a question of conflict of interest".

New cases

 * Darwinek: A case involving the actions of Darwinek.  Thatcher131 alleges that he has misused blocks and rollback, and has edit warred and been incivil.  Darwinek promises that "I will never abuse that powers [sic] again in the future."


 * Freedom skies: A case involving the actions of Freedom skies.  JFD and others allege that he has edit warred to push his point of view.  He denies the allegations.

Evidence phase

 * Falun Gong: A case regarding the conduct of various editors on the Falun Gong article. Olaf Stephanos and Asdfg12345 allege that Samuel Luo has edit-warred in removing pro-Falun Gong material from the article, while Luo, Tomananda and others allege that Stephanos, Asdfg and others have edit-warred (including page blanking) in removing anti-Falun Gong material.

Voting phase

 * Lukas19-LSLM: A case involving the conduct of Lukas19 and LSLM.  Both parties allege incivility.  Kirill Lokshin has proposed remedies, supported by Fred Bauder, banning both parties for one year.


 * Armenia-Azerbaijan: A case, brought by ex-arbitrator Dmcdevit, regarding a dispute between Armenian and Azerbaijani editors on a large number of articles. Kirill Lokshin has proposed remedies, supported by Fred Bauder, imposing a variety of bans and paroles on various editors.


 * InShaneee: A case involving the actions of Inshaneee. 81.179.115.188 (formerly Worldtraveller) alleges that InShaneee inappropriately blocked him in a dispute in which he was involved in violation of WP:BP, and that he responded agressively to criticism.  InShaneee in his statement points to an apology admitting the block was premature, and denying any aggressive response.  Paul August has proposed a remedy admonishing InShaneee, which has a majority of six to three, and another desysopping him for ten days is at 5-3.


 * Free Republic: A case involving the actions of DeanHinnen, BenBurch and Fairness And Accuracy For All on the Free Republic article and elsewhere. The parties have alleged incivility, personal attacks, and biased editing, among other misconduct. Remedies have been proposed, with the support of seven arbitrators, affirming the community ban of BryanFromPalatine, banning Fairness And Accuracy For All for one year, and placing Free Republic and Democratic Underground on article probation.

Motion to close

 * Barrett v. Rosenthal: A case brought by Peter M. Dodge involving the actions of Ilena and Fyslee. According to Dodge, Ilena was initially reported to AN/I for "posting links to sites that some considered to be attack sites".  Various users attempted to assist Ilena, but "This was sabotaged...when Fyslee posted a link to a site that attacked Ilena in a personal manner".  The title of the case refers to Barrett v. Rosenthal, a decision of the Supreme Court of California, which ruled that internet users and providers were not liable for the republication of defamatory statements, which some editors believe provides protection for Wikipedia.  It has been alleged that some editors were involved in the real-life litigation of the case. If closed, Ilena would be banned for one year.