Archiving case from Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Marknutley |
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Revision as of 13:25, 2 March 2015
DarknessShines2
- DarknessShines2 (talk · · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
20 February 2011
- Suspected sockpuppets
- A50000 (talk · · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
Please list evidence below this line. Remember to sign at the end of your section with 4 tilde characters "~~~~"
- A50000 was an SPA who was active on highly disputed topics such as Mass killings under Communist regimes. Tentontunic is active in same articles, and has the same views about these subjects. The following evidence seems to indicate that, by switching to the Tentontunic account, the user escaped his block log entry, the placement under WP:DIGWUREN sanctions and scrutinity of his edit warring. (Both these accounts were created mainly for editing in similar POV topics. Therefore, it's reasonable to suspect that both are actually socks of a long-running user with a similar POV, although I haven't compiled enough evidence to propose any name here.)
- A50000 edit warred heavily to remove the POV-tag from Mass killings under Communist regimes:
- A50000 doesn't like the sentence "Today the term the Right is primarily used to..." in Right-wing politics, and edit wars to insert a citation needed tag:
- On 4 December 2010, A50000 was placed on the WP:DIGWUREN list of formally warned editors:
- Before this, Tentontunic had made only 7 edits. The main activity of the Tentontunic account starts on 7 December 2010:
- [15]
- On 9 December 2010, A50000 was blocked for edit warring:
- [16]
- On 13 February, Tentontunic is blocked for edit warring at Left-wing terrorism:
- [17]
- On 16 February, Tentontunic is accused of edit warring about the same POV-tag A50000 edit warred about:
- Neither of these accounts uses the normal apostrophe.
- A50000 uses accent aigu: [18]
- Tentontunic uses accent grave (probably in order to look different): [19][20] Nanobear (talk) 13:58, 20 February 2011 (UTC)
Comments by other users
Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.
- Tentontunic's first edits, which include creating an article and editing articles, show an understanding of WP terminology and processes. Appears to be an experienced editor. TFD (talk) 14:11, 20 February 2011 (UTC)
Interesting fishing expedition, and a grave misrepresentation on the facts. I have exactly two edits to Right-wing politics both of which were to enforce an RFC. There was no edit warring there. I have exactly two reverts on the POV tag on Mass killings under Communist regimes which I have actually self reverted on. Did user A5000 show an interest in 18th century books of poetry also? And The Four Deuces, if I am so experienced, why have you just fixed my reference error on the NPOV notice board? I have taken the time to read the rules and to follow editors around to see how things work here, and this is now evidence of a crime? It would appear to me that people use these tactics to hound out anyone they perceive as having the wrong point of view. I had hoped to contribute to this project, but have been meet with hostility and obfuscation, I have to wonder if it is in fact possible to get anything of worth done here. Regarding my apostrophe, that is actually how it is on my keyboard, ought I purchase a new one so as not to offend your sensibilities? Tentontunic (talk) 14:44, 20 February 2011 (UTC)
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
- Clerk endorsed - Endorsing based on behavior. There isn't a whole lot of overlap in these accounts in terms of edit times, but I'm wondering if this was evading the AE restriction. — HelloAnnyong (say whaaat?!) 16:05, 20 February 2011 (UTC)
Checkuser note: These two accounts appear completely Unrelated. Frank | talk 20:15, 20 February 2011 (UTC)
19 April 2011
- Suspected sockpuppets
- Tentontunic (talk · · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
Please list evidence below this line. Remember to sign at the end of your section with 4 tilde characters "~~~~"
A checkuser is requested per jpgordon's suggestion here, and is cool if another checkeruser feels the evidence isn't as compelling.
Checkuser isn't magic wiki pixie dust, it's adjunct to behavioural evidence, and the evidence simply doesn't fit the pattern. Why would Tentontunic be motivated to go to the trouble of socking via alleged open proxy[21] over a POV tag in an article that is low down in his field of interest and has only edited rarely. There are many more editors motivated by Baltic nationalism I know of who would be much more inclined commit this kind of caper, Tentontunic is definitely not one of them.
As can be seen here Tentontunic editing of the Occupation of the Baltic states article ranks 14th, and there is no other article related to the Baltic states in his entire history. (Compare this to User:Igny the other person edit warring, where the Baltic states rank highly in his list of interests[22]). Usually sock puppets are intimately tied up with a particular topic area to such a degree that they feel driven to go to the trouble of sock puppetry. This is simply not the case here, he doesn't fit the profile of a Baltic nationalist. Tentontunic's main interests appear to be related to left wing and communist terrorism and mass killings, and there is no suggestion that he has commited sock puppetry in that area. If there is any particular article that Tentontunic would possibly sock, it would be the Mass killings under Communist regimes article which he had undertaken not to edit for six months in order to lift an one week editing restriction[23], but as you can see there has been no activity since that undertaking of March 9th[24].
As for the claim that he and these socks used the same OS/Chrome browser, well Chrome has grown to almost 12% market share, according to this report [25], and we don't know Chrome's prevalence among geeks self selecting to edit Wikipedia. So it isn't as unique or uncommon as one might suspect, and given the absence of typical behavioural indicators Tentontunic must be given the benefit of the doubt. Martin (talk) 05:26, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
Comments by other users
Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
Comment: This one's an exception to the rule against checkuser requests to prove innocence; consider this, instead, a request for a checkuser review of my finding regarding TenTonTunic in the absence of an initial SPI. --jpgordon::==( o ) 06:04, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
- This wasn't exactly what was asked, but since I've looked and discovered it, Confirmed that Tentontunic is a reincarnation of Marknutley. Little Big Man is also Confirmed. The question of the IPs may be incidental at this point. Dominic·t 19:37, 19 April 2011 (UTC)
22 May 2011
- Suspected sockpuppets
- The Last Angry Man (talk · · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
Please list evidence below this line. Remember to sign at the end of your section with 4 tilde characters "~~~~"
IP88.108.224.95 is currently blocked as a suspected sock of mark nutley and both the other two IPs and The Last Angry Man appear to be the same editor.
mark nutley and his socks, including User:Tentontunic and various dynamic IPs and OPs were active on Communist terrorism and its talk page, where these new accounts have recently edited. The main edit has been to remove tags.[26][27] This is similar to Tentontunic's removal of tags from Mass killings under Communist regimes:
- [28] 20:07, 16 February 2011 (And remove POV tag, silly to have had it here since 2009.)
- [29] 23:33, 16 February 2011 (Absolutely no justification for this given. Pure hyperbole.)
The writing style appears to be similar as well:
- User:94.12.52.247: "anyone here thinking i am a sock would be wrong, i read the article and see fuckall pov about it. This blocking of an article from unregistered users is just another commie joke."[30]
- User:216.169.108.198: "you ask for protection after putting back your version? typical commie"[31]
- User:88.108.218.93: "Yes i did mate, because yourself and siebert were being dicks, you got a guy blocked for following policy when the two of you edit warred unsourced content into an article. Have a nice day :) Mark."[32]
TFD (talk) 06:08, 22 May 2011 (UTC)
Comments by other users
Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.
Um -- I would like to point out that the edit summaries are decidedly not congruent with nutley's wording as far as I can tell. Apparently calling TFD a name somehow becomes evidence that the editor is nutley!? Come on -- no evidence presented and SPI is not for fishing. You may catch a fish, but the failure rate lately is absurdly high! And asserting "sock" at the one edit mark for a new user sets a record! Cheers. Though I admire the nerve of folks who accuse every singly IP they run into of being a "sock." Collect (talk) 11:26, 22 May 2011 (UTC)
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
- Clerk note: I think based on behavior, Last Angry Man is the IPs - but I don't see a direct connection with Marknutley. As such I'm closing for now. — HelloAnnyong (say whaaat?!) 12:53, 22 May 2011 (UTC)
14 June 2011
- Suspected sockpuppets
- The Last Angry Man (talk · · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
Marknutley was blocked for block evasion 28 Oct 2010. He continued editing using dynamic IPs and OPs,[33] and created a sock account, User:Tentontunic. A dynamic IP began edit-warring on Communist Terrorism, which was then protected,[34] and the IP set up the account The Last Angry Man (TLAM).[35] I believe that TLAM is a sock of mark nutley for the following reasons:
- Removal of POV tags
- 28 May 2011 TLAM on Communist terrorism [36]
- 8 March 2011 Tentontunic on Mass killings under Communist regimes[37]
- Similarity of writing style
- User:94.12.52.247: "anyone here thinking i am a sock would be wrong, i read the article and see fuckall pov about it. This blocking of an article from unregistered users is just another commie joke."[38]
- User:216.169.108.198: "you ask for protection after putting back your version? typical commie"[39]
- User:88.108.218.93: "Yes i did mate, because yourself and siebert were being dicks, you got a guy blocked for following policy when the two of you edit warred unsourced content into an article. Have a nice day :) Mark."[40]
- Reference to other edtors as "morons": mark nutley[41] and TLAM.[42]
- Creation of stub articles on controversial topics
- TLAM 31 May 2011: Communist crimes against humanity[43]
- Tentontunic created "Father Stalin look at this".[44]
- Another editor stated his suspicions
- "The absence of capital letters, the language (especially "commie"), rudeness, anti-Communism and the British origin this IP indicates that the edits have been made by Marknutley/Tentontunic."[45]
- Both TLAM and Tentontunic revert User:Igny to remove POV tag from Occupation of the Baltic states.,[48][49]
- Both TLAM and Tentontunic express concern about showing neutrality in articles about the British far right: Tentontunic & British National Party[50], TLAM and English Defence League[51]
- TLAM and Tentontunic both edited Malayan Emergency.[52]
- TLAM deletes the article Terror.[53] Earlier, Tentontunic had nominated the article for deletion.[54]
Could editors commenting on this case kindly post under "Comments by other users" below. TFD (talk) 15:01, 14 June 2011 (UTC)
Comments by other users
Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.
I've had a few run-ins with TLAM on the talk page of the article on the EDL; looking through the archives of user talk:marknutley, it strikes me that both TLAM and mn appear to frequently conflate the difference between fact, interpretation, and analysis on the one hand, and opinion on the other. Furthermore, allegations that an article is not neutral seem to be a preferred M.O. of both editors, accompanied by frustration on the part of other editors that mn/TLAM has a rather unique view of neutrality. That's my two cents, anyway. Sindinero (talk) 15:39, 14 June 2011 (UTC)
- (Although, granted, as an afterthought, the epistemological confusion I've mentioned above is hardly damning evidence, as it's pretty widespread.) Sindinero (talk) 18:38, 14 June 2011 (UTC)
This is bullshit, I have already been investigated and cleared, how many times do I have to be accussed of being a sockpuppet? The evidence is bull, the accusations are bull, and it appears to me that TFD does this to drive new editors away. The Last Angry Man (talk) 17:50, 14 June 2011 (UTC)
- I am bemused by TLAM's comments
belowabove. Suspicions about that account have only once previously been brought to SPI, and TLAM was not notified and appears to have had no involvement with SPI whatsoever. TFD (talk) 18:06, 14 June 2011 (UTC)- I am even more bemused that you think it impossible that people can`t follow a few links to see what is being said about them, [55] Once people accused me of cheating I did of course look at their contributions to see what was being said of me. The Last Angry Man (talk) 18:12, 14 June 2011 (UTC)
- I find it interesting that you state you have "already been investigated and cleared", yet this is the first time this account has been posted on SPI. Interesting, indeed... --Alan the Roving Ambassador (talk) 22:54, 14 June 2011 (UTC)
- Are you blind? Look at the link posted in my last post, this is the second time i have been accused of being a sockpuppet of mark nutley. The Last Angry Man (talk) 22:57, 14 June 2011 (UTC)
- I find it interesting that you state you have "already been investigated and cleared", yet this is the first time this account has been posted on SPI. Interesting, indeed... --Alan the Roving Ambassador (talk) 22:54, 14 June 2011 (UTC)
- I am even more bemused that you think it impossible that people can`t follow a few links to see what is being said about them, [55] Once people accused me of cheating I did of course look at their contributions to see what was being said of me. The Last Angry Man (talk) 18:12, 14 June 2011 (UTC)
I think that based on the evidence, The Last Angry Man is very likely Marknutley. There are plenty of similarities, and Marknutley is a serial sockpuppeteer who just keeps returning to these same articles to pursue the same POV. Nanobear (talk) 23:03, 14 June 2011 (UTC)
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
- This is looking very {{likely}}. TLAM is using the same browser favored by the last confirmed sock of Marknutley (Tentontunic) and appears to be based in the same area. There is a difference in operating system, but given there was some time between the accounts I don't find it unreasonable to assume he got a new computer in the meantime. Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:01, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- So he got a new computer with a different operating system but then replaced the broswer with the old one used previously, riiiight. And you think that is a reasonable assumption? --Martin (talk) 00:11, 17 June 2011 (UTC) (copied from below by Hersfold)
- Um... Yeah. It takes only a few moments to go online and download the browser of your choice. Version numbers are of course different due to automatic updates, but it's still the same browser type. When I got my new computer the first thing I did was go online and download Firefox. Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:16, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- As people have their favourite browser, they are even more likely have their favourite operating system. I think it is less likely that someone would change their operating system while retaining the same browser. --Martin (talk) 00:46, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- If you get a new computer (perhaps the old one was broken?), it's very difficult to get an older operating system. Almost all computers for retail sale come with Windows 7 or the newest version of Mac OS X by default. As someone who, again, has recently been through this, I don't find this at all unreasonable. Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:50, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- You originally said same browser, different OS. Having the version numbers of both the OS and Browser, it would be relatively easy to obtain the release dates for both. If you assumption about a new computer purchase and subsequent browser download is correct, then the OS and CPU version would have to be relatively recent and the browser version installed would have to post-date the OS version, given the relative frequency of updates these days. --Martin (talk) 01:02, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- If you're telling me how to interpret my data, I assure you that you are wasting your time. I would not have made an assessment that the data did not support. I know how to do my job. Hersfold (t/a/c) 01:11, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- You originally said same browser, different OS. Having the version numbers of both the OS and Browser, it would be relatively easy to obtain the release dates for both. If you assumption about a new computer purchase and subsequent browser download is correct, then the OS and CPU version would have to be relatively recent and the browser version installed would have to post-date the OS version, given the relative frequency of updates these days. --Martin (talk) 01:02, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- If you get a new computer (perhaps the old one was broken?), it's very difficult to get an older operating system. Almost all computers for retail sale come with Windows 7 or the newest version of Mac OS X by default. As someone who, again, has recently been through this, I don't find this at all unreasonable. Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:50, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- As people have their favourite browser, they are even more likely have their favourite operating system. I think it is less likely that someone would change their operating system while retaining the same browser. --Martin (talk) 00:46, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- Um... Yeah. It takes only a few moments to go online and download the browser of your choice. Version numbers are of course different due to automatic updates, but it's still the same browser type. When I got my new computer the first thing I did was go online and download Firefox. Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:16, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- So he got a new computer with a different operating system but then replaced the broswer with the old one used previously, riiiight. And you think that is a reasonable assumption? --Martin (talk) 00:11, 17 June 2011 (UTC) (copied from below by Hersfold)
- This is looking very {{likely}}. TLAM is using the same browser favored by the last confirmed sock of Marknutley (Tentontunic) and appears to be based in the same area. There is a difference in operating system, but given there was some time between the accounts I don't find it unreasonable to assume he got a new computer in the meantime. Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:01, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- Administrator note Closing off this part of the case, I've blocked TLAM per the findings. — HelloAnnyong (say whaaat?!) 10:02, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
16 June 2011
- Suspected sockpuppets
- Minphie (talk · · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
Another sock of Marknut also edited similarly User:Tentontunic Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 17:18, 16 June 2011 (UTC)
Comments by other users
Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.
?? Hmmm, don't see any similarity what so ever, Minphie (talk · contribs) appears to edit a totally unrelated area, being drug related topics exclusively. I do note that Doc James appears to be having a content dispute [56],[57] with him. Surely this is not an appropriate venue for dispute resolution. In fact Doc James initiated a failed 3RR report Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard/Edit_warring#User:Minphie reported by User:Jmh649 (Result: No Violation), so this SPI request looks rather appalling in this light. --Martin (talk) 22:43, 16 June 2011 (UTC)
This is looking very {{likely}}. TLAM is using the same browser favored by the last confirmed sock of Marknutley (Tentontunic) and appears to be based in the same area. There is a difference in operating system, but given there was some time between the accounts I don't find it unreasonable to assume he got a new computer in the meantime. Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:01, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
- It is absolutely correct that I am using a new computer since late April. And it is curious that I would be expected to change browsers with the change. But sock-puppet investigations, as I understand it, can establish that in two seconds by comparing computer id's. Minphie (talk) 07:32, 17 June 2011 (UTC)
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
Unrelated – Completely different locations. –MuZemike 10:45, 20 June 2011 (UTC)
22 June 2011
- Suspected sockpuppets
- User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
- Removal of POV tag from Occupation of the Baltic states: Tentontunic (16 April 2011)[61] & 86.26.201.167 (21 April 2011)[62] & The Last Angry Man (TLAM) (13 June 2011)[63]
- Removal of comments by Efraim Zuroff from Communist crimes against humanity (an article created by TLAM)[64]): 86.26.201.167 (22 June 2011)[65] & TLAM (5 June 2011)[66]
TFD (talk) 19:34, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
Comments by other users
Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.
Sorry, all I did was restore some content which had been removed, I left a rational on the talk page as to why. 86.26.201.167 (talk) 20:51, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
- You also removed the comments by Zuroff. According to mark nutley, who also removed them, "You also may not give undue weight to a person who`s sole purpose in life is to ensure that the holocaust remains the worst crime of all time".[67] TFD (talk) 22:28, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
- So? I restored it because it is relevant to the article, which I stated in the edit summary and on the talk page, might I ask why you removed my talk page comments 86.26.201.167 (talk) 22:53, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
- Why did you remove the comments by Zuroff? (I removed your comments as having been posted by a probable sock.) TFD (talk) 23:19, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
- I removed Zuroff due to it being off topic, there is no mention of the holocaust in the article after all? And a few editors on the talk page believed it also had no place in the article. And ought you not wait until your accusation has borne fruit before you remove my comments? wp:agf 86.26.201.167 (talk) 23:42, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
- Why did you remove the comments by Zuroff? (I removed your comments as having been posted by a probable sock.) TFD (talk) 23:19, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
- So? I restored it because it is relevant to the article, which I stated in the edit summary and on the talk page, might I ask why you removed my talk page comments 86.26.201.167 (talk) 22:53, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
- Administrator note IP blocked. Let's not feed the trolls, please... — HelloAnnyong (say whaaat?!) 01:35, 23 June 2011 (UTC)
26 June 2011
- Suspected sockpuppets
- Prochron (talk · · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
This new account appears to be used by an experienced editor. The types of edits, writing style, and viewpoint are similar to User:Marknutley and his socks. This editor drew my attention because of his appearance at Social liberalism, an article that has not attracted disputes recently. The last talk page discussion (excluding a replacement of an image file) was over two months ago.[68] However, two days after I archived the talk page discussion,[69] Prochon made his first edit.[70] His reply to me on the talk page indicates some history with me based on tone ("How the hell are social liberals conservative in social issues? Do you know what the "liberal" part means?"), and reference to previous discussion on the talk page (all of which had been archived).[71]
- Experienced editor: first edit is removing POV tag with edit summary, "WP:NPOV, WP:BLP",[72] second edit is voting on an AfD.[73]
- Edit-warring over POV tags: Prochron,[81][82] Tentontunic (16 April 2011),[83] 86.26.201.167 (21 April 2011)[84] & The Last Angry Man (TLAM) (13 June 2011)[85]
- Use of abrasive edit summaries: Prochron ("remove nonsense"),[86] Tentontunic ("Again with the nonsense")[87] The Last Angry Man ("POV Issue: Has to be a joke")[88]
TFD (talk) 13:00, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
Comments by other users
Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.
No actual evidence for this charge. SPI is not the place to settle scores about content disputes. Collect (talk) 13:59, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- Given your history, you might consider taking your own advice. Short Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 14:02, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- What the heck are you suggesting? That I have made SPI reports without evidence? I suggest you recall that SPI is a poor place indeed to make personal attacks, Boris. Cheers. Collect (talk) 15:08, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- Suggesting that you hold yourself to the same standards that you expect from others is a "personal attack?" Interesting. Short Brigade Harvester Boris (talk) 16:32, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- What the heck are you suggesting? That I have made SPI reports without evidence? I suggest you recall that SPI is a poor place indeed to make personal attacks, Boris. Cheers. Collect (talk) 15:08, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- I am quite surprised by this charge, given that I have never had any contact with the accuser besides a simple content dispute. I guess I hit a nerve here.
- As the clerk indicated above, I am indeed an experienced user and I do have several accounts. However they are for privacy purposes; I am an infrequent user and I generally try not to engage in content disputes. To my knowledge I have never used two accounts to edit the same page, although I might be mistaken. I believe using multiple accounts for privacy reasons is allowed, but if the rules have changed over the last few years or if I have misread them, please remind me. Prochron (talk) 14:25, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- Edit: Here is the relevant policy I found. I believe my use of different accounts (namely the one shown below, plus a few others that I have not used for months or years) is clearly allowed under this policy.
- Besides, the person I am accused of being has (from what I've gathered) never edited that article and has been banned for half a year. I do not see the point of this investigation. Prochron (talk) 14:33, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- I do not see that policy justifies the two accounts. Both are writing about political topics, including liberalism. Compare the entries for the Invisible hand[89] and Talk:Social liberalism. Both discuss liberalism, Keynsian economics, the Austrian school and classical or neoclassical liberalism. (And yes, I acceot you are not mark nutley, based on checkuser and your other account.) Since you have other accounts, you may wish to e-mail the checkuser to determine whether they are acceptable and to prevent their being revealed in future SPIs. TFD (talk) 14:47, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- Editing similar articles is an offense to you as well?
- Should I have to explain to you in detail how my series of edits, if they were to be made all in the same account, can be used to trace back to me as a person? If not, I would appreciate if you would not make any further inquiries about my choices. I have clearly not used my accounts in an attempt to deceive or to circumvent any policy. This much ought to be clear to you. I cannot perceive your further insistence as anything but bad faith.
- I am not that worried about future SPIs. Indeed, during my long history of contributing to this community I've never met a user who would bring up a SPI over a 1-edit content dispute. Prochron (talk) 14:58, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- You appear to have met such a user :(. WP policy specifically allows users to use multiple personas as long as their edits do not intersect, and even allows intersection as long as no attempt is made to conceal the connection between accounts. Many admins have such accounts, and, AFAICT, this is also true of Arbs. Cheers. Collect (talk) 15:08, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
To be clear, this SPI was not brought "over a 1-edit content dispute" -- TFD cites several Prochron/MN similarities, as was done with the MN/TLAM SPI that led to TLAM's block. In light of that, together with MN's history of socking, and also given the timing of the Prochron account's activation, etc., TFD's vigilance is to be welcomed, as is bringing the suspicions here. There are no grounds for disparagement. In particular, the suggestion that the SPI was brought to settle a score is regrettable.Writegeist (talk) 17:58, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- I do not see that policy justifies the two accounts. Both are writing about political topics, including liberalism. Compare the entries for the Invisible hand[89] and Talk:Social liberalism. Both discuss liberalism, Keynsian economics, the Austrian school and classical or neoclassical liberalism. (And yes, I acceot you are not mark nutley, based on checkuser and your other account.) Since you have other accounts, you may wish to e-mail the checkuser to determine whether they are acceptable and to prevent their being revealed in future SPIs. TFD (talk) 14:47, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
- While Prochron (talk · contribs) and Educatedseacucumber (talk · contribs) appear to be the same person, they appear Unrelated to Marknutley. Also, for what it's worth, I don't see a lot of editing overlap between the two related accounts, so perhaps we should inquire as to what they're doing before we take further action. TNXMan 13:56, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
- Administrator note Alright, this ccase has gone off topic. Marknutley is unrelated to Prochron and its sock, so we're done here. — HelloAnnyong (say whaaat?!) 16:55, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
14 November 2011
- Suspected sockpuppets
This IP user gave himself away as Marknutley with this comment, in which the owner identifies himself as "Mark" and signed off with Marknutley's signature "cheers mate". The IP range geolocates to the same geographical area as Marknutley. The IP user subsequently began edit-warring in the climate change topic area (another Marknutley signature) - see the list of contributions from the range, above - and was accompanied by incivil edit summaries again typical of Marknutley.[90] [91]. It is clearly not a new user as this edit summary shows. This is about as big a WP:DUCK as you could imagine.
I believe Marknutley is currently using at least one registered account (SPI evidence is in preparation - contact me for more details if required) so I strongly recommend doing a checkuser run on this range. Prioryman (talk) 08:49, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- As I understood - Mark lives in another country to these IP addresses - it could easily be impersonation, I have had some off wiki communication with the user recently - just sayin...I have no interest at all in the outcome of this investigation. Off2riorob (talk) 08:55, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- He is British and has acknowledged this several times, including identifying the town where he lives (or at least lived as of last year). The IP address is geolocated only about 70 miles away from his self-identified home location. Prioryman (talk) 08:58, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- My off wiki communications with him, or the person I know as Nutley don't fit that description but I can't reveal the details here. I don't want to get more involved. Off2riorob (talk) 09:01, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- This is all well and good, but the CUs never link accounts to IPs. If you have a named account, that's something they'll work with, but not IPs. Sven Manguard Wha? 09:10, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- That is (usually ;-) right. However, while CU is a useful and frequently applied tool, this is WP:SPI, which can reach conclusions about editors without technical support, and has done so often in the past. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 09:22, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- It might be worth making an exception here. The IPs appear to be related to a dedicated server or webhost. The range contributions indicate no other person is using that range to edit anonymously. Therefore it is pretty well certain that any registered account on that range will belong to the same person. Prioryman (talk) 09:26, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
Comments by other users
Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.
SPI is a poor fishing hole. A 70 mile radius in England is a "very big area" and would likely have a large number of users. IP addresses which are assigned "on the fly" by any ISP are not generally considered "socks" of each other, nor do I find any evidence here more than "IDONTLIKEHISPOSITIONS" as a reason for the assertion that they are automatically Nutley. :acking evidence, I suggest this SPI is simply a fishing expedition where we know in advance that SPI can not determine anything much. Cheers. Collect (talk) 12:38, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- No-one is fishing. That was merely correcting O2RR's error William M. Connolley (talk) 13:30, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- Which error is that? All I have said is that I have lots of off wiki contact with the living person that used to edit here as Nulty and from my investigation of these IP addresses unless they are open proxies they are not him - he would definately not post on my userpage2 - I would block the IP's for impersonation. I don't know enough about the edits but I would say, your being played. - Off2riorob (talk) 14:24, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- Your assertion that geolocate of these indicates it isn't MN. Perhaps you should forward your exciting correspondence to a clerk William M. Connolley (talk) 14:31, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- Which error is that? All I have said is that I have lots of off wiki contact with the living person that used to edit here as Nulty and from my investigation of these IP addresses unless they are open proxies they are not him - he would definately not post on my userpage2 - I would block the IP's for impersonation. I don't know enough about the edits but I would say, your being played. - Off2riorob (talk) 14:24, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- This is a rather weak defence, Collect. The IPs are clearly linked. What you see from this aggregated list is a series of user sessions, all from the same range (188.227.160.0/18), all relating to the same subject matter. It starts with the "myself (Mark)" comment on Off2riorob's user talk page. We know from Off2riorob's comments above that Marknutley has been in touch with him off-wiki, so this fits with the IP editor being Marknutley - why else would he contact Off2riorob initially and refer to himself as "Mark", if he did not believe that Off2riorob would know who "Mark" was? The subject of that first comment on Off2riorob's talk page, the article on Joanne Nova, was repeatedly edited by multiple IP addresses from the same range over the following days to address the perceived BLP issues that the initial IP editor alluded to. This clearly demonstrates that the same person, "myself (Mark)", was linked to all of these IP addresses. "IDONTLIKEHISPOSITIONS" has not been invoked by anyone other than you. Let's summarise: we have a British user, geolocated near Marknutley, who calls himself Mark, who believes Off2riorob knows him, who edits disruptively in a topic area from which Marknutley is banned, using the same colloquialisms, who is clearly not a new user and knows what acronyms like ANI, BLP, OR and RS means, and who takes the same abusive approach towards other editors and editing that got Marknutley into trouble. If you think that combination is merely a coincidence I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Prioryman (talk) 13:34, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- NSS - IPs from a single ISP may well be linked. The problem is asserting that because someone lives 70 miles from another person that this means anything at all. A 70 mile radius can represent 15,000 sq. mil. or about 1/3 of England. "Geolocated near Marknutley" is a gross overstatement. "Colloquialism" are generally British in the case at hand - and I hesitate to tell you there: Wikipedia has a large number of British editors! "Mark" is a fairly common first name in England, by the way, with it being "number one" a few times (in 1974 for example). If you said your name was "William" I would not therefor leap to say you are WMC <g> It is that connection which I find exceedingly weak. Sorry - the hook has no bait on it. Collect (talk) 14:13, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- You are reaching, badly. The combination of evidence is convincing. It's not 100 percent bulletproof, but then nothing outside of pure mathematics is. The conclusion that the IP is MN is certainly beyond reasonable doubt. And the only remotely plausible alternative explanation is an impostor, who should, of course, be blocked anyways.--Stephan Schulz (talk) 14:56, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- Um -- I think you forgot that 15% of the Scibaby "absolutely sure socks" weren't? Your "beyond reasonable doubt", isn't. And 1/3 of Englands area != much proof of anything much. What we do have is that the person appears to hold some of the same opinions as MN - which is not "evidence". Cheers. Collect (talk)
- Either your memory or your interpretation does not agree with the commonly accepted version of reality. Where did we ever have a list of "absolutely sure socks"? What we do have here, however, is a user who geolocates to a position compatible with MN, who uses the same phraseology, who signs as Mark, who has the same opinions as MN, and who is a reasonably experienced Wikipedia user. Why do you bold arbitrary pieces of text? --Stephan Schulz (talk) 15:14, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- That was one of many broken bits of ARBCC - see the discussion there. Your tenaciousness in defending MN against checks is interesting, though William M. Connolley (talk) 15:28, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- Um -- I think you forgot that 15% of the Scibaby "absolutely sure socks" weren't? Your "beyond reasonable doubt", isn't. And 1/3 of Englands area != much proof of anything much. What we do have is that the person appears to hold some of the same opinions as MN - which is not "evidence". Cheers. Collect (talk)
- You are reaching, badly. The combination of evidence is convincing. It's not 100 percent bulletproof, but then nothing outside of pure mathematics is. The conclusion that the IP is MN is certainly beyond reasonable doubt. And the only remotely plausible alternative explanation is an impostor, who should, of course, be blocked anyways.--Stephan Schulz (talk) 14:56, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- NSS - IPs from a single ISP may well be linked. The problem is asserting that because someone lives 70 miles from another person that this means anything at all. A 70 mile radius can represent 15,000 sq. mil. or about 1/3 of England. "Geolocated near Marknutley" is a gross overstatement. "Colloquialism" are generally British in the case at hand - and I hesitate to tell you there: Wikipedia has a large number of British editors! "Mark" is a fairly common first name in England, by the way, with it being "number one" a few times (in 1974 for example). If you said your name was "William" I would not therefor leap to say you are WMC <g> It is that connection which I find exceedingly weak. Sorry - the hook has no bait on it. Collect (talk) 14:13, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
I saw some of the IP edits above and was suspicious, although not for the sockpuppetry reasons. The fact that they lead back to a hosting provider rather than an ISP has me deeply suspicious that this range is in fact harboring an anonymizer network, which should be blocked according to our open proxy policy. I can't find the exact proxy mechanism despite some poking (I suspect it's an anonymiser programme which is difficult to detect), but the range should probably be blocked for that reason alone. Returning to the subject of this investigation, Mark has previously used similar open proxy methods to edit, which I think adds to the evidence that the range should be given a yearlong or more block as a suspected open proxy. Sailsbystars (talk) 14:43, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
I find it hard to think of any way of reading the statement "it would just get reverted as scibaby or myself (Mark)" [92] in which that statement is not an admission of being Marknutley. What other possible sense of "being Mark" would otherwise provide a reason for automatic reverts on a par with "being Scibaby"? I'll block those IPs shortly unless I hear any good reason not to. Fut.Perf. ☼ 10:23, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- Clerk note: 188.227.160.0/19 needs to be blocked as a web host. -- DQ (t) (e) 14:57, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- Clerk note: Range blocked per the above advice from SailByStars and DeltaQuad Alexandria (talk) 15:01, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
- Ok, now that the webhost is blocked, we can all move on and not worry about these IPs, it's a 5 year hardblock. -- DQ (t) (e) 15:04, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
17 November 2014
- Suspected sockpuppets
- Darkness Shines (talk · · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- The Last Angry Man (talk · · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)
- User compare report Auto-generated every hour.
- Editor interaction utility
I am adding this report so that it will be archived for posterity. DS admitted at ANI that he was the master and subsequently has been blocked indefinitely. We may want to merge Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Darkness Shines with this case.
— Berean Hunter (talk) 00:30, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
Comments by other users
Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.
- We are dealing solely in the realm of behavioral evidence at this point, so a technical SPI seems fruitless considering that the last SPI on this account took place in 2011. Viriditas (talk) 03:04, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
- He admitted it, it has been verified that it is him, so it is about record keeping, not linking behavior. A rarity at SPI, yes, but was filed just so cases could be merged. Necessary paperwork, the life of a clerk. Dennis - 2¢ 03:17, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
- In that case, I request a technical SPI as the user may still be using sockpuppets and editing under new accounts. Viriditas (talk) 03:29, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
- I agree, if he lied about this account what is saying there aren't more out there that were created over the last 3 years? - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 03:38, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
- In that case, I request a technical SPI as the user may still be using sockpuppets and editing under new accounts. Viriditas (talk) 03:29, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
- He admitted it, it has been verified that it is him, so it is about record keeping, not linking behavior. A rarity at SPI, yes, but was filed just so cases could be merged. Necessary paperwork, the life of a clerk. Dennis - 2¢ 03:17, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
- The Darkness Shines account appears to have violated the arbcom restrictions set forth at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Climate_change#Marknutley_topic-banned on the subject of climate change and was quite active on several climate change-related articles and talk pages, and engaged in disruptive behavior in that topic area with both accounts. I would therefore expect any newly discovered accounts to also be active in that area. Viriditas (talk) 04:31, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
- As a heavily involved editor, TLAM was the actual editor I had my first dispute in this context with (at Taliban) and from then onwards, DS started hounding me. But they had edited together (supporting each other)... I just didn't know better about socking then. So here's a diff for behavioural evidence of TLAM / DS [93]. --lTopGunl (talk) 09:49, 18 November 2014 (UTC)
- In addition, TLAM can be found commenting on this thread started by DS on State-sponsored terrorism, where he is echoing DS' point of view and is engaged in some sort of dispute with TopGun. Note the striking similarities in POV and language between both accounts. Mar4d (talk) 03:39, 19 November 2014 (UTC)
- In this discussion on Talk:Taliban, both TLAM and DS appear to be !voting "support". If both accounts are indeed operated by the same person, this would constitute an abuse of the !voting process. TLAM's last edit was on 17 December 2011, and DS was already editing before that period. This indicates that DS may have been abusing both accounts concurrently. Mar4d (talk) 03:39, 19 November 2014 (UTC)
- The revision history of Pakistan's role in the War on Terror shows Darkness Shines making his first edit on the article on 24 November 2011, where he is removing content. DS' edits were reverted by TopGun on 26 November, following which TLAM reverted TopGun on the same day. DS later made further edits to the article a month later. Mar4d (talk) 03:39, 19 November 2014 (UTC)
- I agree with Future, from the moment he was blocked in fact editors have been patting him on the back, if he wants to make an appeal in the future we should be sure that he is clean first here. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 22:17, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
- Just a question but why hasent DS been placed under Category:Wikipedia sockpuppets of Marknutley? - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 04:36, 21 November 2014 (UTC)
- Apart from all the facts and evidence I am adding to this investigation, from my own POV (not speculation); that formed after a myriad of conduct disputes with this
editorsock, not including TLAM in his confession of being a sock of Marknutley might be to avoid giving any additional good faith to me, based on the fact that TLAM and DS both were aggressively opposing my edits and that TLAM being a sock as well undermines that retrospectively... esp. now that I've started the discussion to revert my blocks due to DS where there are un-refuted witnesses (admins & editors) and evidence that DS had been deliberately hounding me. As such, I can not assume any good faith that he would like me to regain any better standing than I already have. There might be a different counter argument to his denial from an uninvolved POV, perhaps a backup sleeper. However, I don't believe that TLAM and DS are different persons given the multitude of evidence relating them. --lTopGunl (talk) 09:47, 21 November 2014 (UTC)
- "Where" as "were"
- Regarding the behavioural links between DS and TLAM, can I make it a point that both DS and TLAM spell the word "where" as "were". Got diffs to prove this. Mar4d (talk) 10:52, 18 November 2014 (UTC)
- Regarding your statement, search for "You can be allied with someone and still exert influence over them, please post to the noticeboards a I have suggested as this is obviously going no-were" in the diff I gave above for use by TLAM. There would be plenty for DS. --lTopGunl (talk) 10:59, 18 November 2014 (UTC)
- Can find more instances where the word "where" is misspelt by both users in other talk page archives too. Anyway, here's some evidence (edit summaries by both users where "where" is "were"): Darkness Shines: [94], [95], [96], [97], [98], [99], [100]; The Last Angry Man: [101], [102], [103], [104]. Mar4d (talk) 11:38, 18 November 2014 (UTC)
- Regarding your statement, search for "You can be allied with someone and still exert influence over them, please post to the noticeboards a I have suggested as this is obviously going no-were" in the diff I gave above for use by TLAM. There would be plenty for DS. --lTopGunl (talk) 10:59, 18 November 2014 (UTC)
- Timeline
- 2011-04-01: Tentontunic AFDs Terror (fails).
- 2011-04-06: Tentontunic asks for 'NPOV' on British far right [105].
- 2011-04-16: Tentontunic reverts User:Igny
- 2011-04-20: Tentontunic CU proven and blocked as sock of MN. (TLAM later resumes at many of his disputes so far as to get blocked).
- 2011-05-16: Article protected due to editwarring IP.
- 2011-05-17: TLAM Created.
- 2011-06-01: TLAM blanks / redirects Terror to Wikitionary.
- 2011-06-06: TLAM asks for 'NPOV' on British far right [106].
- 2011-06-14: TLAM reverts User:Igny
Chronological (but added later) --lTopGunl (talk) 01:25, 24 November 2014 (UTC)
Here's a bit more interesting data about the timing of the DS and the TLAM accounts:
- 2011-06-17: TLAM blocked
- 2011-06-19: Last post-block edit by TLAM on his talkpage
- 2011-07-07: DS account created and starts editing intermittently
- 2011-08-20: DS edits become more frequent, edits every day
- 2011-09-05: DS edits suddenly stop, after two weeks of very regular editing
- 2011-09-08: TLAM is unblocked and resumes editing. Frequent daily edits until 09-19.
- 2011-09-19 until 09-26: DS returns, both accounts edit on the same days, in alternating blocks, one account resuming when the other stops, but never editing simultaneously
- 2011-09-27 until 10-30: only TLAM editing, except for two short sequences of DS edits on 10-07 and 10-27
- 2011-11-01 until 12-17: DS edits become more frequent again, both accounts now edit strictly on alternating days: either the one or the other is active almost daily, but never both of them together. Edits by open-proxy IPs self-identifying as Marknutley (see 14 Nov SPI) also neatly dovetail with those of TLAM.
- 2011-11-23: DS makes first edit directly in support of TLAM in a noticeboard thread (about Pakistan/Taliban dispute)
- 2011-12-17: TLAM makes his last edit
- 2011-12-27: DS resumes high-frequency daily edits, fully focussing on conflict with User:TopGun over Pakistan/Taliban and related disputes
In my eyes, that cannot possibly be pure coincidence. Fut.Perf. ☼ 11:14, 19 November 2014 (UTC)
- Shared articles
Further: according to User compare, there are at least the following articles shared between DS/Marknutley on the one hand, and TLAM on the other:
- related to Pakistan/Afghanistan/Taliban/Al-Qaeda: Al-Qaeda, Pakistan's role in the War on Terror, State-sponsored terrorism, Taliban
- related to Communist atrocities: Communist terrorism, Comparison of Nazism and Stalinism, Crimes against humanity under Communist regimes, Mass killings under Communist regimes (both objecting to a merge proposal: [107][108]), Left-wing terrorism
- about conservatism, criticism of left-wing movements etc.: Conservatism, UK Independence Party, Occupy Wall Street (both emphasizing the aspect of "crimes" committed by participants: [109][110])
Fut.Perf. ☼ 11:49, 19 November 2014 (UTC)
- Add Inter-Services Intelligence to the list where DS had disputes on same content [111] [112]. --lTopGunl (talk) 11:54, 19 November 2014 (UTC)
We're only yet comparing TLAM with DS and MN... so I decided to take a look at TLAM's last SPI as MN... his edits also over lap with other proven socks of MN:
- Tentontunic nominated [113] Terror for deletion (resulted in no consensus), TLAM redirected it against consensus to Wikitionary not long after the AFD.
- Tentontunic & TLAM revert User:Igny at Occupation of the Baltic states [114] [115].
There's a whole list of evidence at TLAM/MN previous SPI with respect to TLAM's similarities to Tentontunic (sock of DS/MN) that needs to be re-evaluated in support of the new evidence. --lTopGunl (talk) 00:58, 24 November 2014 (UTC)
- Shared style
TLAM's article writing [116] is characterized by the same style deficiencies as DS's: a tendency for additive, asyndetic sequences of sentences, poor structure, sometimes unlinked or poorly linked sentence fragments, and poor orthography. Fut.Perf. ☼ 11:58, 19 November 2014 (UTC)
Clerk, CheckUser, and/or patrolling admin comments
- Administrator note On DS's talk page is a CU check indicating no evidence the account has been compromised. I will verify that I emailed DS using an address I knew to be his, we conversed, I'm confident the account hasn't been compromised and he has admitted this connection of his own free will. Dennis - 2¢ 01:39, 17 November 2014 (UTC)
- Under these circumstances, the Arbcom unblocking of The Last Angry Man (talk · contribs) (who had been blocked as a Marknutley sock on behavioral grounds in 2011) probably ought to be revisited too. Now that we have even more data about the behavioral profile, I find the similarities between the TLAM and DS even more striking. Very confident it was him too. Fut.Perf. ☼ 09:37, 18 November 2014 (UTC)
Additional information needed Both named accounts, Marknutley and The Last Angry Man, are Stale. DS has admitted to being Marknutley and there looks to be a behavioural case for linking The Last Angry Man to DS at this point. Checkuser has been requested, but what exactly are you ("you" being all y'all commenting) wanting checkuser to check? --Jezebel's Ponyobons mots 21:43, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
- I didn't request a checkuser. The only grounds for checkuser would be checking for sleepers, I suppose. The TLAM vs. DS comparison is of course purely behavioral. It's important though, even though the case is so old, because there will almost certainly be some kind of appeal some time, and several of DS's little côterie of wikifriends and enablers have already been encouraging him and announcing they would support him and patting him on the back for his apparent honesty in coming clear about the socking, so this notion of his "sincerity" (or lack thereof) in "coming clear" (or in fact not coming clear) will almost certainly play a role in judging any such appeal in the future. Fut.Perf. ☼ 22:12, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
- There are no sleepers or additional accounts evident. I'll move the status to checked in order to allow the behavioural investigation to continue.--Jezebel's Ponyobons mots 22:21, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
- Clerk note: I've added TLAM as a suspected sock and Darkness Shines as proven. I think we can leave the Darkness Shines SPI where it is as the report was dismissed/withdrawn. So apart from working out action against TLAM (which might need to go through ArbCom) is there anything else which needs to be done here? Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 10:02, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
- TLAM should not be marked merely as a "suspected" sock, but as proven, and he should be blocked. The behavioral evidence is as clear as any SPI case that has ever been decided on DUCK grounds; if anybody seriously thinks it isn't, I'd like to hear them speak up and argue their case. Yes, Arbcom should be informed, but not in the sense of "we have a suspicion; please decide this for us", but in the sense of "we have come to this conclusion; deal with it". Arbcom badly dropped the ball on this one back in 2011, but this decision today is based on new behavioral data that Arbcom didn't have back then, so we are perfectly within our rights to make a decision here as in any other SPI case. Dennis Brown has hinted that Arbcom might already have received an unban appeal by DS, so it is necessary that they be very firmly told what the facts are here. Fut.Perf. ☼ 12:27, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
- @Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry: did the unblock for Arb, and he is active, so I'm pinging as he may have some insight for the unblock. Looking around at TLAM's contribs and style, it does look convincing that this is DS/Mark. Dennis - 2¢ 13:20, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
- Fut.Perf.: Unless there is an admission from TLAM (which there isn't) or CU evidence (which there isn't) we can't prove or confirm it only suspect or suspect with enough evidence to block. However as there is an ArbCom unblock following a block for the same reason we need to check with them first to ensure they don't know something we don't. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 13:29, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
- Since when are DUCK-proven sockpuppets not proven sockpuppets? Of course duck evidence counts as proof. Fut.Perf. ☼ 14:53, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
- And the Arbs can't really know anything definite disproving the connection anyway. MN and TLAM already confirmed openly back in 2011 that they live in the same English county, used the same ISP and the same browser. How clearly negative could a checkuser result possibly be under those conditions? The arbs, when challenged about their unblock, already indicated that their negative evidence was weak and the unblock was as much a matter of AGF as anything, and at least one of them in fact voted for reblocking on reexamining the evidence. Fut.Perf. ☼ 15:06, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
- Fut.Perf.: I was referring to the sock template - see Template:Sockpuppet/doc#Parameters. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 03:03, 2 December 2014 (UTC)
- It is well within the scope of this investigation and an uninvolved admin to conclude (or reject) TLAM being a WP:DUCK proven sock of DS / MN. ArbCom's decision to unblock it years ago has nothing to do with new evidence here and any future appeal is not a part of this SPI itself unless ArbCom gives a mandate while this is still running. WP:NOTCOURT. --lTopGunl (talk) 14:05, 23 November 2014 (UTC)
- Unquestionably we have the authority to block if there is evidence. The reason for the ping, and the reason for consulting Arb is simply understanding that there is a the possibility of more evidence given in private that would mitigate or clear the account, particularly since this was originally a sock of a banned account. While seemingly unlikely, due diligence forces us to consider this possibility if we are going to call this a truly unbiased and complete investigation. The risk of damage by waiting is lower than the risk of damage by rushing to judgement. Dennis - 2¢ 14:20, 23 November 2014 (UTC)
- Well, Cavalry was asked a week ago and hasn't responded here yet. So, what else now? Fut.Perf. ☼ 15:44, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
- I'll try to go through BASC archives and figure it out. NativeForeigner Talk 19:15, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
- Sorry guys, this threw me a bit. I don't have many emails from that time, but I do have a few from the Mark Nutley/TLAM case. Having looked through them, we came to the conclusion that it was not possible to link TLAM and Mark Nutley beyond reasonable doubt. The biggest evidence we had was from a now-banned sockpuppet (not the best source) and it was not very convincing at all, based on phrases used in conversations etc. It raised suspicion... but not much. That's not to say that TLAM was not MarkNutley, but rather that we couldn't prove that the two accounts were the same with enough certainty to block. Another factor to consider is that TLAM had a lot of "collateral" blocks given out by over-keen admins.
- To be honest, so much time has passed that I am no longer an expert in MN or TLAM. I can't evaluate the evidence above, but if you feel that the evidence is there to connect TLAM and MN, by all means link and block. We didn't have the evidence at the time - just hearsay. Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry (Message me) 22:49, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
- I'm not sure what you mean when you say that TLAM had "a lot of collateral blocks"; his block log shows only the indef-block for sockpuppetry, followed by your unblock. Surely now, in the light of day, the admins who blocked this account look less "over-keen" (in your words), and you and your erstwhile colleagues on the Committee look rather more over-credulous. The evidence presented here is substantial and well beyond the usual bar for demonstrating sockpuppetry. But even back in 2011, some of our more incisive and clueful editors (e.g. NuclearWarfare, Comrade Boris, etc) identified this as a clear-cut case of abusive sockpuppetry, so it's not simply a case of 20/20 hindsight. I've blocked the TLAM account; I guess we learn from this and move on. MastCell Talk 23:17, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
- Archives confirm what CMLITC said. If there is evidence now, act on it. NativeForeigner Talk 09:43, 3 December 2014 (UTC)
- MastCell, to clarify, when I say "a lot of collateral blocks" I mean that some "sockpuppetry" blocks were issued by administrators who believed the accounts were socks of TLAM - it later turned out that they weren't socks. When I say there was a lot of collateral, I mean that innocent users were too often blocked as socks of TLAM. For that reason, we were extra cautious about blocking any new socks and really wanted a much higher standard of evidence than was presented. NW and SBHS were not in possession of all the facts, and I stand by my original decision that this was not a clear-cut case of abusive sockpuppetry. That said, I understand that others may have reached different conclusions if presented with the same evidence! Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry (Message me) 15:23, 3 December 2014 (UTC)
- Archives confirm what CMLITC said. If there is evidence now, act on it. NativeForeigner Talk 09:43, 3 December 2014 (UTC)
- I'm not sure what you mean when you say that TLAM had "a lot of collateral blocks"; his block log shows only the indef-block for sockpuppetry, followed by your unblock. Surely now, in the light of day, the admins who blocked this account look less "over-keen" (in your words), and you and your erstwhile colleagues on the Committee look rather more over-credulous. The evidence presented here is substantial and well beyond the usual bar for demonstrating sockpuppetry. But even back in 2011, some of our more incisive and clueful editors (e.g. NuclearWarfare, Comrade Boris, etc) identified this as a clear-cut case of abusive sockpuppetry, so it's not simply a case of 20/20 hindsight. I've blocked the TLAM account; I guess we learn from this and move on. MastCell Talk 23:17, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
- I'll try to go through BASC archives and figure it out. NativeForeigner Talk 19:15, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
- Well, Cavalry was asked a week ago and hasn't responded here yet. So, what else now? Fut.Perf. ☼ 15:44, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
- Unquestionably we have the authority to block if there is evidence. The reason for the ping, and the reason for consulting Arb is simply understanding that there is a the possibility of more evidence given in private that would mitigate or clear the account, particularly since this was originally a sock of a banned account. While seemingly unlikely, due diligence forces us to consider this possibility if we are going to call this a truly unbiased and complete investigation. The risk of damage by waiting is lower than the risk of damage by rushing to judgement. Dennis - 2¢ 14:20, 23 November 2014 (UTC)
- Since when are DUCK-proven sockpuppets not proven sockpuppets? Of course duck evidence counts as proof. Fut.Perf. ☼ 14:53, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
- TLAM should not be marked merely as a "suspected" sock, but as proven, and he should be blocked. The behavioral evidence is as clear as any SPI case that has ever been decided on DUCK grounds; if anybody seriously thinks it isn't, I'd like to hear them speak up and argue their case. Yes, Arbcom should be informed, but not in the sense of "we have a suspicion; please decide this for us", but in the sense of "we have come to this conclusion; deal with it". Arbcom badly dropped the ball on this one back in 2011, but this decision today is based on new behavioral data that Arbcom didn't have back then, so we are perfectly within our rights to make a decision here as in any other SPI case. Dennis Brown has hinted that Arbcom might already have received an unban appeal by DS, so it is necessary that they be very firmly told what the facts are here. Fut.Perf. ☼ 12:27, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
Closing, then. TLAM has been blocked and tagged as a certain sock of Marknutley on behavioral grounds by MastCell. Fut.Perf. ☼ 10:10, 3 December 2014 (UTC)