Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2009-08-24/Arbitration report

The Arbitration Committee did not close any cases this week, and opened two new cases, leaving four cases open.

Requests for arbitration
A request for arbitration concerning administrative actions on the Bosnian Wikipedia, filed by Sephirotix, is being declined by the Committee due to a lack of jurisdiction.

Open cases
The Noloop case was opened this week. The case involves mutual allegations of disruptive conduct by several parties, and is expected to address the conduct of all the editors involved. A draft decision, to be written by arbitrator Carcharoth, is expected by 6 September.

The Lapsed Pacifist 2 case was also opened this week. The filing editor, Steve Crossin, alleges that Lapsed Pacifist has engaged in advocacy, original research, and edit warring, as well as various other improprieties, over a wide range of articles. Lapsed Pacifist has so far refused to enter a statement or respond to the allegations.

Shortly after the opening of the case, the Committee enacted a temporary injunction which prohibits Lapsed Pacifist from editing articles related to the Corrib gas project for the duration of the case. Evidence and workshop proposals have been submitted by a number of editors, but no arbitrators have commented on the material at this time. A draft decision, to be written by arbitrator Wizardman, is expected by 1 September.

The 194x144x90x118 case has entered its second week of deliberations. The filing editor, Erik9, alleges that 194x144x90x118 has engaged in a variety of disruptive conduct, despite an RFC on the matter. 194x144x90x118 has so far refused to respond to the allegations. Evidence has been presented by several editors, but no substantial drafting of proposals has taken place. A draft decision, to be written by arbitrator Wizardman, is expected by 24 August.

The Abd-William M. Connolley case has entered its sixth week of deliberations and its first week of formal voting. The case was filed by Abd, who alleged that William M. Connolley had improperly banned him from the cold fusion article; William M. Connolley denied these allegations, and stated that Abd's conduct had been inappropriate.

The proposed decision, prepared by arbitrator Stephen Bain, would place the cold fusion article under discretionary sanctions, remove William M. Connolley's administrator status, place Abd under mentorship, and issue several admonishments and reminders. An alternative proposal, presented by arbitrator FloNight, would only remove William M. Connolley's administrator status for three months, but impose several restrictions on his use of administrative tools following their restoration. Voting on most remedy proposals is split, with only the imposition of discretionary sanctions and two of the proposed admonishments passing at this time.

Clarifications, amendments, and motions
The Committee has enacted a motion in response to Greg L's request to amend the Date delinking decision. The motion reduces the various editing restrictions related to style and editing guidelines imposed by the decision to apply only to topics specifically related to the linking or delinking of dates.

Arbitrator Risker has proposed a motion to rescind the six-month ban levied against Locke Cole as part of the Date delinking decision; the motion provides for a reinstatement of the ban should Locke Cole be blocked for edit-warring.

A request filed by Olaf Stephanos that the six-month topic ban imposed on him by the Falun Gong decision be rescinded has received a negative response from the Committee, with six arbitrators stating that no change to the sanction is necessary.

The Committee has rejected as frivolous a fifth clarification request concerning the Ryulong decision filed by Mythdon.

The motion proposed by arbitrator Carcharoth in response to a request for clarification regarding the Obama articles decision filed by Wikidemon remains open for voting. The motion would extend ChildofMidnight's topic ban to include related discussions in all namespaces. The motion currently stands at five arbitrators supporting and one recused, with seven votes necessary for adoption.