Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2010-08-02/Arbitration report

The Arbitration Committee opened no cases this week, leaving two open.

Open cases

 * Climate change (Week 8): Special rules of conduct were put in place for this arbitration. The case resulted from the merging of several Arbitration requests on the same topic matter into a single case, and the failure of a related request for comment to make headway. Although the case is still technically open, the workshop phase was [ closed] on July 19 for at least 48 hours to give a break to all participants while arbitrators think about a proposed decision. Last week, participants requested an update on when to expect a proposed decision, but no specific target date has been set. The case has made no visible on-wiki progress for the past two weeks.
 * Race and intelligence (Week 9): This case concerns accusations of incivility, disruptive editing, and tag-teaming to control the content on articles related to race and intelligence. Following a number of delays (see Signpost coverage from June 28, July 5, July 12), the case moved to the proposed decision phase. The proposed decision that was drafted by Coren has sparked several concerns among participants and non-participants ([ example]). The case remains in the proposed decision phase, as other proposals by other arbitrators are being considered.

Motion

 * A motion was passed in relation to Betacommand, who is now editing as Δ: he has been permitted to perform automated tasks in relation to SPI clerking only as specified and authorised by the bot approvals group. He is not permitted to use the bot for any other purpose, unless he has received explicit permission from the bot approvals group and endorsement by the Committee.

Other

 * Applications for CheckUser and Oversight permissions have now closed. The Committee is reviewing a total of 27 different applications that were received. In two weeks, The Signpost will publish the names of applicants being actively considered for appointment.
 * Update: The Signpost'' regrets to inform readers of an inaccuracy in this week's issue - in fact, the Committee did not receive 27 different applications. When arbitrators were requested to reveal the "total number" of "CU/OS applications...ArbCom received", arbitrator KnightLago responded by saying that 27 "inquires" were received, and has since clarified that at this time, there was no intention of revealing the total number of applications received. Asked by the journalist about the reason for withholding that information, KnightLago responded that there "is no compelling basis to release the number now".