Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Single/2009-09-07

The Report on Lengthy Litigation

The Arbitration Committee did not open or close any cases this week, leaving four cases open.

Four new requests for arbitration were filed this week:

• A request concerning the "no legal threats" policy, and its applicability to certain actions by Milomedes, was filed by Lambiam. The Committee has declined the request, deferring the question of Milomedes' ban appeal to the Ban Appeals Subcommittee.
• A request concerning the drafting of biographies of living people in userspace was filed by Stevertigo. The Committee is declining the request as premature.
• A request concerning the conduct of Pigsonthewing was filed by Erik9; the Committee has not yet determined whether to accept the request.
• A request concerning allegations of disruptive editing on the "speed of light" article, filed by Jehochman, appears to be accepted for consideration.

A fifth request, concerning the naming of the "Catholic Church" article, was filed and subsequently withdrawn by Rockstone35.

The Noloop case entered its third week of deliberations. The case involves mutual allegations of disruptive conduct by several parties, and is expected to address the conduct of all the editors involved. Evidence has been presented by several editors, and one of the parties, Noloop, has posted a statement that he does not intend to participate in the proceeding, but no drafting of proposals has taken place. A draft decision, to be written by arbitrator Carcharoth, is expected by 13 September.

The Lapsed Pacifist 2 case also entered its third week of deliberations. 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, and a temporary injunction prohibits him from editing articles related to the Corrib gas project for the duration of the case. No arbitrators have commented on the evidence or workshop proposals at this time; a draft decision, to be written by arbitrator Wizardman, was expected by 5 September, but has been delayed.

The 194x144x90x118 case entered its fourth week of deliberations and its second week of formal voting. The filing editor, Erik9, alleges that 194x144x90x118 has engaged in a variety of disruptive conduct, despite an RFC on the matter; 194x144x90x118 has refused to respond to the allegations, calling the proceedings a "sham".

The proposed decision, prepared by arbitrator Wizardman, condemns 194x144x90x118 for "soapboxing on talk pages, personal attacks, edit warring, and a lack of a desire to abide by policy" and ban him for one year. A series of additional findings have been proposed by arbitrator Carcharoth, who has also drafted a general reminder of policy for editors of the "DreamHost" article. With a majority of six arbitrators on the case, all substantive proposals in the decision appear to pass.

Finally, the Abd-William M. Connolley case entered its eight week of deliberations and its third 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. Alternative proposals have been presented by arbitrator FloNight, who would only remove William M. Connolley's administrator status for three months, but also impose several restrictions on his use of administrative tools following their restoration; by arbitrator Coren, who would place William M. Connolley under administrative probation; by arbitrator Casliber, who would replace Abd's mentorship with a series of editing restrictions and ban him for a period of four weeks; and by arbitrator Risker, who has proposed banning Abd for three months. Voting on most remedy proposals remains deeply split.

A motion to terminate the six-month ban levied against Locke Cole as part of the Date delinking decision appears to have passed, but has not yet been formally enacted. The motion was proposed by arbitrator Risker, and provides for a reinstatement of the ban should Locke Cole be blocked for edit-warring. Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2009-09-07/Humour