Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement

Click here to add a new enforcement request
For appeals: create a new section and use the template {{Arbitration enforcement appeal}}
See also: Logged AE sanctions

Important information

Shortcuts

Please use this page only to:

request administrative action against editors violating a remedy (not merely a principle) or an injunction in an Arbitration Committee decision, or a contentious topic restriction imposed by an administrator,
request contentious topic restrictions against previously alerted editors who engage in misconduct in a topic area designated as a contentious topic,
request page restrictions (e.g. revert restrictions) on pages that are being disrupted in topic areas designated as contentious topics, or
appeal arbitration enforcement actions (including contentious topic restrictions) to uninvolved administrators.

For all other problems, including content disagreements or the enforcement of community-imposed sanctions, please use the other fora described in the dispute resolution process. To appeal Arbitration Committee decisions, please use the clarification and amendment noticeboard.

Only autoconfirmed users may file enforcement requests here; requests filed by IPs or accounts less than four days old or with less than 10 edits will be removed. All users are welcome to comment on requests except where doing so would violate an active restriction (such as an extended-confirmed restriction). If you make an enforcement request or comment on a request, your own conduct may be examined as well, and you may be sanctioned for it. Enforcement requests and statements in response to them may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator. (Word Count Tool) Statements must be made in separate sections. Non-compliant contributions may be removed or shortened by administrators. Disruptive contributions such as personal attacks, or groundless or vexatious complaints, may result in blocks or other sanctions.

To make an enforcement request, click on the link above this box and supply all required information. Incomplete requests may be ignored. Requests reporting diffs older than one week may be declined as stale. To appeal a contentious topic restriction or other enforcement decision, please create a new section and use the template {{Arbitration enforcement appeal}}.

Appeals and administrator modifications of contentious topics restrictions

The Arbitration Committee procedures relating to modifications of contentious topic restrictions state the following:

All contentious topic restrictions (and logged warnings) may be appealed. Only the restricted editor may appeal an editor restriction. Any editor may appeal a page restriction.

The appeal process has three possible stages. An editor appealing a restriction may:

ask the administrator who first made the contentious topic restrictions (the "enforcing administrator") to reconsider their original decision;
request review at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") or at the administrators' noticeboard ("AN"); and
submit a request for amendment ("ARCA"). If the editor is blocked, the appeal may be made by email.

Appeals submitted at AE or AN must be submitted using the applicable template.

A rough consensus of administrators at AE or editors at AN may specify a period of up to one year during which no appeals (other than an appeal to ARCA) may be submitted.

Changing or revoking a contentious topic restriction

An administrator may only modify or revoke a contentious topic restriction if a formal appeal is successful or if one of the following exceptions applies:

The administrator who originally imposed the contentious topic restriction (the "enforcing administrator") affirmatively consents to the change,^[a] or is no longer an administrator;^[b] or
The contentious topic restriction was imposed (or last renewed) more than a year ago and:
- the restriction was imposed by a single administrator, or
- the restriction was an indefinite block.

A formal appeal is successful only if one of the following agrees with revoking or changing the contentious topic restriction:

a clear consensus of uninvolved administrators at AE,
a clear consensus of uninvolved editors at AN,
a majority of the Arbitration Committee, acting through a motion at ARCA.

Any administrator who revokes or changes a contentious topic restriction out of process (i.e. without the above conditions being met) may, at the discretion of the Arbitration Committee, be desysopped.

Standard of review
On community review

Uninvolved administrators at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") and uninvolved editors at the administrators' noticeboard ("AN") should revoke or modify a contentious topic restriction on appeal if:

the action was inconsistent with the contentious topics procedure or applicable policy (i.e. the action was out of process),
the action was not reasonably necessary to prevent damage or disruption when first imposed, or
the action is no longer reasonably necessary to prevent damage or disruption.

On Arbitration Committee review

Arbitrators hearing an appeal at a request for amendment ("ARCA") will generally overturn a contentious topic restriction only if:

the action was inconsistent with the contentious topics procedure or applicable policy (i.e. the action was out of process),
the action represents an unreasonable exercise of administrative enforcement discretion, or
compelling circumstances warrant the full Committee's action.

^ The administrator may indicate consent at any time before, during, or after imposition of the restriction.
^ This criterion does not apply if the original action was imposed as a result of rough consensus at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard, as there would be no single enforcing administrator.

Appeals and administrator modifications of non-contentious topics sanctions

The Arbitration Committee procedures relating to modifications and appeals state:

Appeals by sanctioned editors

Appeals may be made only by the editor under sanction and only for a currently active sanction. Requests for modification of page restrictions may be made by any editor. The process has three possible stages (see "Important notes" below). The editor may:

ask the enforcing administrator to reconsider their original decision;
request review at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard ("AE") or at the administrators’ noticeboard ("AN"); and
submit a request for amendment at the amendment requests page ("ARCA"). If the editor is blocked, the appeal may be made by email through Special:EmailUser/Arbitration Committee (or, if email access is revoked, to arbcom-enwikimedia.org).

Modifications by administrators

No administrator may modify or remove a sanction placed by another administrator without:

the explicit prior affirmative consent of the enforcing administrator; or
prior affirmative agreement for the modification at (a) AE or (b) AN or (c) ARCA (see "Important notes" below).

Administrators modifying sanctions out of process may at the discretion of the committee be desysopped.

Nothing in this section prevents an administrator from replacing an existing sanction issued by another administrator with a new sanction if fresh misconduct has taken place after the existing sanction was applied.

Administrators are free to modify sanctions placed by former administrators – that is, editors who do not have the administrator permission enabled (due to a temporary or permanent relinquishment or desysop) – without regard to the requirements of this section. If an administrator modifies a sanction placed by a former administrator, the administrator who made the modification becomes the "enforcing administrator". If a former administrator regains the tools, the provisions of this section again apply to their unmodified enforcement actions.

Important notes:

For a request to succeed, either

(i) the clear and substantial consensus of (a) uninvolved administrators at AE or (b) uninvolved editors at AN or

(ii) a passing motion of arbitrators at ARCA

is required. If consensus at AE or AN is unclear, the status quo prevails.

While asking the enforcing administrator and seeking reviews at AN or AE are not mandatory prior to seeking a decision from the committee, once the committee has reviewed a request, further substantive review at any forum is barred. The sole exception is editors under an active sanction who may still request an easing or removal of the sanction on the grounds that said sanction is no longer needed, but such requests may only be made once every six months, or whatever longer period the committee may specify.
These provisions apply only to contentious topic restrictions placed by administrators and to blocks placed by administrators to enforce arbitration case decisions. They do not apply to sanctions directly authorized by the committee, and enacted either by arbitrators or by arbitration clerks, or to special functionary blocks of whatever nature.
All actions designated as arbitration enforcement actions, including those alleged to be out of process or against existing policy, must first be appealed following arbitration enforcement procedures to establish if such enforcement is inappropriate before the action may be reversed or formally discussed at another venue.

Information for administrators processing requests

Thank you for participating in this area. AE works best if there are a variety of admins bringing their expertise to each case. There is no expectation to comment on every case, and the Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) thanks all admins for whatever time they can give.

A couple of reminders:

Before commenting, please familiarise yourself with the referenced ArbCom case. Please also read all the evidence (including diffs) presented in the AE request.
When a request widens to include editors beyond the initial request, these editors must be notified and the notifications recorded in the same way as for the initial editor against whom sanctions were requested. Where some part of the outcome is clear, a partial close may be implemented and noted as "Result concerning X".
Enforcement measures in arbitration cases should be construed liberally to protect Wikipedia and keep it running efficiently. Some of the behaviour described in an enforcement request might not be restricted by ArbCom. However, it may violate other Wikipedia policies and guidelines; you may use administrative discretion to resolve it.
More than one side in a dispute may have ArbCom conduct rulings applicable to them. Please ensure these are investigated.

Closing a thread:

Once an issue is resolved, enclose it between {{hat}} and {{hab}} tags. A bot should archive it in 7 days.
Please consider referring the case to ARCA if the outcome is a recommendation to do so or the issue regards administrator conduct.
You can use the templates {{uw-aeblock}} (for blocks) or {{AE sanction}} (for other contentious topic restrictions) to give notice of sanctions on user talk pages.
Please log sanctions in the Arbitration enforcement log.

Thanks again for helping. If you have any questions, please post on the talk page.

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Arbitration enforcement action appeal by Khabboos

Appeal declined. NW (Talk) 11:37, 15 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Prohibited from appealing more than every six months. NW (Talk) 02:50, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

Procedural notes: The rules governing arbitration enforcement appeals are found here. According to the procedures, a "clear, substantial, and active consensus of uninvolved editors" is required to overturn an arbitration enforcement action.

To help determine any such consensus, involved editors may make brief statements in separate sections but should not edit the section for discussion among uninvolved editors. Editors are normally considered involved if they are in a current dispute with the sanctioning or sanctioned editor, or have taken part in disputes (if any) related to the contested enforcement action. Administrators having taken administrative actions are not normally considered involved for this reason alone (see WP:UNINVOLVED).

Appealing user: Khabboos (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) – Khabboos (talk) 15:02, 13 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sanction being appealed: Topic ban from the subject of religion or ethnic conflicts in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, imposed at [[1]] and [[2]]

Administrator imposing the sanction: Sandstein (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)

Notified here

Statement by Khabboos

It has been three and a half months since I was topic banned (please see the link provided above). I am appealing that my TBan be lifted again now after a month based on the advice given to appeal again in a month when I appealed the last time here. If you admins see my contributions, you can observe that I have first discussed my edits on the Talk Page everytime, before editing the article. I therefore request you admins to lift my Topic Ban.

TenOfAllTrades, a discussion on the Talk page of an unrelated topic shouldn't be brought up here (we're discussing my TBan with respect to religion and ethnic conflicts in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan)!—Khabboos (talk) 16:24, 13 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

At WP:GAB, I read, "that (the blocked user must appeal that) the block is no longer necessary because you understand what you are blocked for, you will not do it again, and you will make productive contributions instead", so let me admit that I was blocked for citing a reference that did not say the same thing as the sentence I added to a wikipedia article, I promise not to repeat it again (I haven't ever repeated it after my TBan) and I will make productive contributions. If you admins see my contributions, you can observe that I have first discussed my edits on the Talk Page everytime, before editing the article. I therefore request you admins to lift my Topic Ban.—Khabboos (talk) 20:12, 14 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Callanecc, I've replied at the SPI on Khabboos (re User:Saharadess); that isn't me!An SPI clerk has checked and found that it is not me and closed the case.—Khabboos (talk) 20:35, 14 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Sandstein

The last unsuccessful appeal was a month ago, at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement/Archive151#Arbitration enforcement action appeal by Khabboos. Because this appeal does not address the reason for the ban, and does not explain in any detail what has changed since the last appeal, and also in view of the concerns voiced in the statement below, I am not confident that problems with original research, misuse of sources and non-neutral editing will not reoccur if the ban is lifted. I therefore recommend that the appeal is declined and that the frequency of future appeals is restricted. Sandstein 18:18, 13 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by TenOfAllTrades

Not sure if I'm 'involved' in the weighty, Wikipedia-specific way or not, but I'll add my remarks in this section to avoid any distracting debate. I have had no interactions with Khabboos on articles related to India, Pakistan, or Afghanistan, and I can confidently say that I have no idea what his past disputes were about, or which 'side' he happened to be on. To my recollection I've never made any significant contributions in the area covered by his current topic ban.

Where I have encountered Khabboos is in the area of homeopathy, chiropractic, and other fringe medical therapies. As near as I can tell, within a few days of being topic banned from one contentious area – India et al. – Khabboos jumped in with both feet to another. His very first substantive edits after the close of his last topic-ban discussion were to begin posting long lists of dozens of references onto Talk:Homeopathy: [3], [4], [5], [6] (There are more consecutive diffs; I just got tired of copying at that point). It was obvious that he had not read the references he named, and that they were simply copy-pasted from other websites (which he did without attribution to the original sources). He proposed no specific edits, just made repeated, poorly-argued demands that negative, well-sourced descriptions of homeopathy be removed from the article.

Efforts were made to return him to the straight and narrow, but the lists of unread, contextless references were back again a couple of weeks later: [7]. The discussion at Talk:Homeopathy#WP:MEDRS (and elsewhere on that page) pretty clearly illustrates the issue. I officially notified Khabboos that discretionary sanctions applied to homeopathy and related articles on June 4 ([8]), and he received a final warning on July 8: [9].

He has noted that his primary purpose in editing these articles was to build up a track record to support this topic ban appeal: [10]. If this is what he does when he's on his best behavior, I have grave doubts about what would happen if his editing restrictions were relaxed. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:45, 13 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, these edits, posted a few minutes ago while I was writing the above comment, capture an essential problem with Khabboos' attitude:

"A discussion on a Talk Page doesn't break any rules, does it? I haven't even indulged in an edit war here!—Khabboos (talk) 15:19, 13 July 2014 (UTC)"[reply]

At this point, I really can't tell whether he's just being disingenuous, or if he truly can't grasp the notion that it's possible for conduct on a talk page to be disruptive. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:53, 13 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by (involved editor 1)

Statement by (involved editor 2)

Discussion among uninvolved editors about the appeal by Khabboos

Result of the appeal by Khabboos

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the sections above.

Based on the evidence in the statements above, I would decline this appeal and limit their ability to file further appeals for some period, perhaps six months or longer (based on other topic-ban timeframes). --Lord Roem ~ (talk) 19:22, 13 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Less than a month has gone by since Khaboos's last appeal at AE. I agree that this appeal should be declined and that Khabboos should not be allowed to file further appeals more often than once every six months. EdJohnston (talk) 20:46, 13 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Agree with decline per my comments on their user talk. Zad68 21:25, 13 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Given that this request doesn't adequately address the requirements listed in WP:GAB which is what I said Khabboos needed to show. That is, the reason the sanction was necessary and imposed (a reflection on their behaviour), and why with evidence it isn't required any more. I would also support a restriction that they not appeal again for at least six months. Also, for disclosure, I've filed an SPI on Khabboos (re User:Saharadess); I'm not convinced it's Khabboos but the evidence is too much to ignore. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 12:39, 14 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

User:84.106.11.117

Talk page semi'd for two months as a normal admin action. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 06:39, 17 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.
Requests may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs (not counting required information), except by permission of a reviewing administrator.

Request concerning User:84.106.11.117

User who is submitting this request for enforcement: Robert McClenon (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) 05:12, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested: 84.106.11.117 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Search CT alerts: in user talk history • in system log

Sanction or remedy to be enforced: Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Abd-William_M._Connolley/Proposed_decision :
Sanction or remedy to be enforced: Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Pseudoscience :

Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it

IP files a Request for Clarification of arbitration ruling: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia%3AArbitration%2FRequests%2FClarification_and_Amendment&diff=616739574&oldid=616719355 Please note that, because an RFC is in progress as to the pseudo-science status of Cold fusion, this filing was an attempt to game the system by asking the arbitrators to bypass consensus.

IP removes a discussion of editing by IP addresses: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617100203&oldid=617090622

Chaheel Riens restores it: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617103815&oldid=617100203

IP collapses the discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617109665&oldid=617106497

Administrator Binksternet states: "Please do not hide the discussion": https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617110112&oldid=617109665

IP hides the discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617110112&oldid=617109665

Filing party unhides discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617116627&oldid=617116416

IP rebukes filing party on talk page: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk%3ARobert_McClenon&diff=617117157&oldid=616790408

IP collapses the discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617117185&oldid=617116627

Jim1138 restores the discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617117389&oldid=617117185

IP collapses the discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617117618&oldid=617117389

Jim1138 restores the discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617118082&oldid=617117618

IP collapses the discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617118312&oldid=617118082

At this point Acroterion blocks the IP for 48 hours. (IP is at 5RR, and talk pages are not exempt from 3RR.)

NeilN restores the discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACold_fusion&diff=617119788&oldid=617118312

Diffs of previous relevant sanctions, if any

If discretionary sanctions are requested, supply evidence that the user is aware of them (see WP:AC/DS#Awareness and alerts)

Notified of applicability of discretionary sanctions by an administrator: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:84.106.11.117&oldid=616521792

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

Cold fusion has been semi-protected indefinitely due to disruptive editing by IPs. There was one previous edit war on the talk page, but the IPs had not yet been warned of DS. There have been too many demands for edits, in which the IPs have expected the volunteer editors to respond quickly. (Also, the demands and questions have been supportive of cold fusion, and the registered editors have mostly been skeptical of cold fusion.) Request, at a minimum, a weekly 1RR restriction against this IP in the area of Cold fusion and other fringe areas. Request consideration of extending the 1RR to other IPs in the 84.104.*.* to 84.106.*.* range, since these addresses shift. Request consideration of a topic-ban by this particular IP from Cold fusion.

User:Lord Roem asks for evidence of the IPs shifting. Another editor has stated that he thinks that all of the 84.104.*.* through 84.106.*.* editors are the same. The total number of IPs is large, leading a reasonable editor to think that they are dynamic. However, that is not provable. (Checkuser is of course not applicable to IPs. Whois can determine whether they co-locate.) I have not researched whether there is consistent quacking. Thank you for advising me that talk pages can, in special situations, be semi-protected, a less extreme measure than the use of discretionary sanctions. (The periodic massive disruption to Talk: Cold fusion is such a special situation.) If the disruption resumes when the IP comes off block, I will request talk page semi-protection. Robert McClenon (talk) 19:21, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk%3A84.106.11.117&diff=617141655&oldid=617126678

Discussion concerning User:84.106.11.117

Statements must be made in separate sections. They may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator.
Administrators may remove or shorten noncompliant statements. Disruptive contributions may result in blocks.

Statement by User:84.106.11.117

Statement by Johnuniq

Talk:Cold fusion has been plagued with people wanting to discuss various side issues such as whether certain factors might be the cause for the failure of reliable sources to confirm the CF phenomenon. One recent revert is 19 June 2014 where my attempt to close an unproductive discussion was challenged. Note that the whole talk page at the time of that diff concerns off-topic stuff, and similar had been going on for some time. It appears that 84.106.11.117 is familiar with the history of the CF talk page and was attempting some WP:POINT scoring by closing sections that are off-topic, but which might be considered reasonable under the unusual circumstances of such hotly promoted pseudoscience. Johnuniq (talk) 05:59, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by (username)

Result concerning User:84.106.11.117

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.

Do you have evidence of the IP shifting? The diffs provided are just this one IP, who's already been blocked for edit warring. Lord Roem ~ (talk) 05:50, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The IP has already been normally blocked for the edit-warring, so I see no need for further admin action unless problems reoccur after the block expires. Sandstein 14:41, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The cold fusion article itself remains semiprotected. In the past, the article's talk page has also been semied for as long as two months. If the activities on the talk page become too big of a waste of time for editors trying to follow policy then another two months of talk semiprotection might be considered. EdJohnston (talk) 15:02, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, looks like semiprotection would be enough to help the situation over there. Beyond that, as Sandstein says, seems this IP disruption is being handled through the normal channels. Lord Roem ~ (talk) 22:51, 16 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Pigsonthewing

This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.
Requests may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs (not counting required information), except by permission of a reviewing administrator.

Request concerning Pigsonthewing

User who is submitting this request for enforcement: Nikkimaria (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) 12:17, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested: Pigsonthewing (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Search CT alerts: in user talk history • in system log

Sanction or remedy to be enforced: Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Infoboxes#Pigsonthewing_and_infoboxes : "Pigsonthewing is indefinitely banned from adding, or discussing the addition or removal of, infoboxes"

Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it

18 July 2014 - editor adds an infobox template

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

User was asked to self-revert and declined to do so.

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

[11]

Discussion concerning Pigsonthewing

Statements must be made in separate sections. They may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator.
Administrators may remove or shorten noncompliant statements. Disruptive contributions may result in blocks.

Statement by Pigsonthewing

I have been mindful not to breach this restriction since it was imposed, ten months ago. And in this case, I did not do so.

What I did do, was to fix a malformed infobox, added here by a good faith, but naive, new editor (this article represents their only edits), including the code:

'''Born''': Albert Ernst Giovanni SCHRAM, 2 September 1964, De Bilt (The Netherlands).

'''Residence''': Lae (Papua New Guinea) & Negrar (Italy).

'''Nationality''': Dutch (The Netherlands).

'''Alma Mater''': European University Institute, Fiesole (Italy).

'''Occupation''': University President.

That had the dreadful visual appearance shown alongside. My replacement had more usual, correct formatting. The restriction does not disallow me from fixing existing infoboxes. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:29, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Callanecc: Nor is there a restriction on me discussing (on an article talk page or elsewhere) improvements to an existing infobox. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:34, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Hullaballoo Wolfowitz

Pigsonthewing did not violate the terms of the arbcom ruling. He did not add an infobox to the article in question, but corrected the formatting on a very poorly constructed infobox that had been uncontroversially added to the article nearly a year ago. If one looks at this narrowly, in terms of the coding, one could argue that he removed one infobox and added a different one containing the same content, but that is pedantry. The Big Bad Wolfowitz (aka Hullaballoo) (talk) 13:19, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by RexxS

This accusation is absolute nonsense.

@Callanecc: You don't need to make up a definition of an infobox from thin air. We already have a definition of an infobox in the very first line of Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Infoboxes:

"An infobox template is a panel, usually in the top right of an article, next to the lead section, (in the desktop view) or at the very top of an article (in mobile view), that summarizes key features of the page's subject. Infoboxes may also include an image, and/ or a map.

A panel ... that summarises key features of the page's subject.

How on earth can you possibly not recognise this edit as adding a panel ... that summarises key features of the page's subject.?

Not only that, but it was "in the top right, next to the lead section".

Look at it - reproduced here as it was when added by Erganbjem, who started editing on 8 August 2013 and who had made just 35 edits by the time he added the infobox (i.e the panel that summarises key features of the page's subject) on 22 September 2013.

It is abundantly clear that not only was the intention to add a panel in the top right of an article, next to the lead section, ... that summarises key features of the page's subject., but the effect was to achieve that. Nobody is contesting that it was a rather suboptimal implementation, even if it was the best that such a new editor could manage - especially as he never edited any other article, and was trying to use the visual editor to add the infobox.

So now we are in the ludicrous position of an editor who stalks Andy's contributions asking for a sanction to prevent him from even improving a very poor infobox. This needs to be thrown out and some examination made of the number of times that Nikkimaria has arrived at an article for the first time just to take issue with Andy's legitimate edits. That needs to stop. --RexxS (talk) 15:10, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Sandstein: If you remain concerned about Andy getting too close to the limits of his sanction, then I'll make an offer: I'll give Andy the opportunity to draw my attention to any article where this kind of grey area exists and I'll examine it afresh. If there is the opportunity for the sort of improvement that is so blindingly obvious as in this case, then I'll make the improvement myself in my own way. I have no intention of doing an end-run around sanctions, but I will not stand by and see genuine improvements to the encyclopedia thrown away because of this kind of process for process sake. --RexxS (talk) 19:42, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Sitush

I'm with RexxS here, and I'm really not a fan of infoboxes. Any attempt to assert that this particular edit breached the ArbCom ruling seems like pedantry. The thing was already there, just poorly constructed and obviously in need of a fix. If Nikkimaria were that concerned, she could have simply reverted Potw and then done the fix in their name. Let's use a bit of common sense. - Sitush (talk) 15:36, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Gerda

The edit helped a new user and improved the article. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:59, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Boing!

Do you know how this makes me feel? Sad. Seeing a productive editor making a change to an article that is so obviously an improvement (and was obviously fixing what was intended as an infobox and doing it properly, and was not adding a new one) being dragged here by a pedantic process-wonk out of battleground spite saddens me a lot. Seeing a couple of ~~Arbs~~ admins actually supporting the accusation using nothing but pedantic process-wonkery while ignoring the plain fact that Andy's change was simply a fix to an existing but badly-formed infobox - well, that saddens me even more. What have we come to when pursuing personal vendettas and pedantically enforcing the (incorrect) letter of Arb sanctions matters more than supporting editors who only desire to make articles better? Those bringing this accusation and those supporting it should carefully read what Rexxs said above - and you should be ashamed of yourselves. If ~~Arbcom~~ admins should actually go ahead and sanction Andy over this, I'll be more than sad - I'll be disgusted. — Alan / Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 10:45, 20 July 2014 (UTC) (Corrected per below — Alan / Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 13:40, 20 July 2014 (UTC))[reply]

Boing! this is arbitration enforcement, not ArbCom. Those commenting and deciding for or against sanctions are administrators, not arbitrators. The distinction is important, as it allows arbitrators to (mostly) respond at the next level up (typically the clarifications and amemndments page) rather than here. Though arbitrators do sometimes comment at enforcement requests, it is relatively rare. Carcharoth (talk) 11:19, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that's an important point, thanks for the reminder - I've corrected my comments. But it doesn't change my underlying criticism of the report here and of those admins supporting it. — Alan / Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 13:37, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

PS: I'd also like to offer a tip of the hat to Callanecc for this - it's always nice to see admins being honourable enough to change their minds when they think they were mistaken and to openly say so. — Alan / Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 17:07, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by (username)

Result concerning Pigsonthewing

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.

This looks like a ~~crystal clear~~ (this was a bit too far, see further comments) violation of the restriction for which I would suggest a one week block. Given the denial on their talk page I'd like to wait for a statement from Pigsonthewing. Based on Gerda's comment on my talk page I'll clarify the reason I wanted a statement and more admin opinions. Pigsonthewing added an infobox to replace that summary which is where I see the breach of the restriction. Putting it another way if Andy had got into a discussion about this on the talk page (or the talk page of the user who added the summary) I would have considered that a violation so by extension and my reading of the restriction this is a violation. I am open be being more lenient with the one week block after a statement from Andy and from other admins. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 13:00, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding whether this was fixing or adding, both Help:Infobox ("fixed-format table") and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Infoboxes ("Infoboxes generally use the template software feature. (It is possible to hand-code an infobox using table markup...)") seem to define an infobox as a fixed-format table which the original was not. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 13:47, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Given the clarifying comments and discussion I have no problem with this being closed with no sanction. Thank you to everyone who commented it definitely helped to define this sanction. As I've said before whilst I take a fairly hard line to what is and is not a violation (and no ill will intended Andy) I am very happy (and generally prefer) to be proved wrong in cases like this. Thank you all, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 09:37, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The request has merit. In the edit at issue, Pigsonthewing added an {{Infobox}} template to the article that was not there before. In addition, what it replaced was a thumbnail image with a caption, which is not an infobox, as Callanecc explains above. What Pigsonthewing did therefore wasn't merely fixing an existing infobox. Pigsonthewing is an experienced editor and should have known better than to try to game the limits of an Arbitration Committee restriction. They also should have immediately reverted themselves when asked to, instead of accusing the editor who reported them of stalking. In view of their uncooperative response to this request, I am of the view that a two-week block (considering the range of up to a month provided for by the enforcement remedy) is necessary to prevent Pigsonthewing from future noncompliance with the restriction. Sandstein 14:23, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
This administrative response strikes me as counter-productive. Why do we have to enter into a debate over whether or not what was there on the page before Pigsonthewings' edits "really was" an infobox, and whether he was just "fixing" one or "inserting" one? The simple fact is that it was obviously meant to be an infobox. The previous editor wanted there to be an infobox, and had tried to insert one; Potw helped him finish the job. The intention behind Potw's restriction is to stop him from alienating other editors by pushing for the insertion of boxes in articles where others have previously chosen not to have any. Penalizing this edit would be counter to the spirit of this sanction.
I also do think it would be counter to the letter of the rule. Pace Callanecc, I do not consider the use of template code as a defining feature of what an infobox is. An infobox is defined by what it does for the reader, not by what wikicode it is produced by. If I add something to an article that looks like an infobox, quacks like an infobox and swims like an infobox, but I have done so not through a template but through static table code, then I have still added an infobox. An infobox is a box at the top of the article that contains certain pieces of basic information in tabulated form. In this sense, what was on the page clearly was one.
Incidentally, I find it ironic that this is now (I think) the second time that I, a card-carrying infobox hater, have felt the need to defend Potw over these arb sanctions. Fut.Perf. ☼ 14:40, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I am with FPaS here. Whilst technically PotW was adding an infobox, in reality he was merely fixing what was an attempt to add an infobox but ended up as a malformed mess (but, none the less, a recognisable attempt at an infobox). A sanction here would be counterproductive. Black Kite (talk) 20:04, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I'm on the fence. Looking at the revision prior to Pigsonthewing's edit, there was an "infobox," though malformed. Reading the letter of the restriction, Pigsonthewing is prohibited from "adding... infoboxes," which read in context with the rest of the decision seems to jive with what FPaS discusses above. The restriction is intended to remove his disruptive presence from discussions or disputes about adding an infobox on an article that wasn't already there. Still, I do believe that this is on the line, that Pigsonthewing should not be making edits to infoboxes period to avoid these issues. I'm uncomfortable with this edit, cause I can see the case for how this is gaming the system, or more importantly, could lead to that mindset down the road. Nevertheless, I'm leaning against a block based on the strong argument Pigsonthewing did not substantively "add" an "infobox" that wasn't already there. Lord Roem ~ (talk) 23:11, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
This is the type of push the boundaries edit that is inherently problematic. Needing to have this discussion over whether a particular set of formatting qualifies as a preexisting infobox is contrary to the spirit of the sanction. Still, I think what was there does narrowly come down on the side of a preexisting infobox, so per the letter of the sanction, I'm opposing a block this time. I'd still advise Pigsonthewings to avoid anything that could even be argued to be adding or removing an infobox going forward, because if you keep ignoring the spirit of the arbitration sanction, your likely to end up blocked even if you abide by the letter of it. Monty ₈₄₅ 23:58, 19 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Based on the discussion above, it seems there's growing consensus this is not a violation of the editor's restriction. I'll close it with no action within the next 24-48 hours unless someone wants to add something to the discussion. Lord Roem ~ (talk) 16:24, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

For my part, I still think the edit is in violation of the terms of the sanction because it added an infobox template where there was none before. But I see the arguments for the opposite view, and given that many administrators here are of that view, and the edit in and of itself wasn't disruptive, I'm OK with closing this with no action. But Pigsonthewing should be aware that they risk being blocked if they continue to push the limits of the restriction. Sandstein 17:13, 20 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Gerda Arendt

This request may be declined without further action if insufficient or unclear information is provided in the "Request" section below.
Requests may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs (not counting required information), except by permission of a reviewing administrator.

Request concerning Gerda Arendt

User who is submitting this request for enforcement: Nikkimaria (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) 11:45, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

User against whom enforcement is requested: Gerda Arendt (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Search CT alerts: in user talk history • in system log

Sanction or remedy to be enforced: Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Infoboxes#Gerda_Arendt_restricted : "Gerda Arendt is indefinitely restricted from: adding or deleting infoboxes; restoring an infobox that has been deleted; or making more than two comments in discussing the inclusion or exclusion of an infobox on a given article. They may participate in wider policy discussions regarding infoboxes with no restriction, and include infoboxes in new articles which they create."

Diffs of edits that violate this sanction or remedy, and an explanation how these edits violate it

21 July User restores an infobox that had been deleted.

Additional comments by editor filing complaint

User has violated the restriction on multiple previous occasions without sanction - see for example Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Infoboxes#Request_for_clarification_.28October_2013.29 this Clarification request in which several arbitrators commented that the user had breached the restriction
Several times when confronted the user has claimed "I forgot" to justify the violation - see for example [12]

Notification of the user against whom enforcement is requested

[13]

Discussion concerning Gerda Arendt

Statements must be made in separate sections. They may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator.
Administrators may remove or shorten noncompliant statements. Disruptive contributions may result in blocks.

Statement by Gerda Arendt

We are talking about this history. I am sorry, I forgot the part of not restoring, I don't look at my restrictions every day. I will not do it again, as long as I remember. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:58, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, several times I claimed "I forgot", because several times I forgot that I had not created an article. We are talking about articles from 2010, for example. Yes, I could have looked up the history, but I remembered my work on them so well that I failed to do it. I asked to apologize that already before. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:41, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by (username)

Result concerning Gerda Arendt

This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the section above.

The request has merit. Because Gerda Arendt has previously violated the restriction multiple times and claimed to have forgotten it, as shown in the submitted evidence, I do not consider her statement that she forgot it again to be credible. To give preventative effect to the sanction, I believe that a block is now necessary. In view of her prior unsanctioned infractions, I also believe that the maximum block duration of one month is appropriate. Sandstein 12:50, 21 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

[1] The administrator may indicate consent at any time before, during, or after imposition of the restriction.

[2] This criterion does not apply if the original action was imposed as a result of rough consensus at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard, as there would be no single enforcing administrator.

[a]

[b]

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