Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 01:44, 12 March 2008

Welcome to Conflict of interest Noticeboard (COIN)
Shortcuts WP:COI/N WP:COIN WP:COIBOARD Sections older than 14 days archived by Lowercase sigmabot III. Click here to purge this page (For help, see Misplaced Pages:Purge) This Conflict of interest/Noticeboard (COIN) page is for determining whether a specific editor has a conflict of interest (COI) for a specific article and whether an edit by a COIN-declared COI editor meets a requirement of the Conflict of Interest guideline. A conflict of interest may occur when an editor has a close personal or business connection with article topics. Post here if you are concerned that an editor has a COI, and is using Misplaced Pages to promote their own interests at the expense of neutrality. For content disputes, try proposing changes at the article talk page first and otherwise follow the Misplaced Pages:Dispute resolution procedural policy.
When starting a discussion about an editor, you must leave a notice on their talk page. You may use {{subst:coin-notice}} ~~~~ to do so.
Additional notes: This page should only be used when ordinary talk page discussion has been attempted and failed to resolve the issue, such as when an editor has repeatedly added problematic material over an extended period. Do not post personal information about other editors here without their permission. Non-public evidence of a conflict of interest can be emailed to paid-en-wpwikipedia.org for review by a functionary. If in doubt, you can contact an individual functionary or the Arbitration Committee privately for advice. The COI guideline does not absolutely prohibit people with a connection to a subject from editing articles on that subject. Editors who have such a connection can still comply with the COI guideline by discussing proposed article changes first, or by making uncontroversial edits. COI allegations should not be used as a "trump card" in disputes over article content. However, paid editing without disclosure is prohibited. Consider using the template series {{Uw-paid1}} through {{Uw-paid4}}. Your report or advice request regarding COI incidents should include diff links and focus on one or more items in the COI guideline. In response, COIN may determine whether a specific editor has a COI for a specific article. There are three possible outcomes to your COIN request: 1. COIN consensus determines that an editor has a COI for a specific article. In response, the relevant article talk pages may be tagged with {{Connected contributor}}, the article page may be tagged with {{COI}}, and/or the user may be warned via {{subst:uw-coi|Article}}. 2. COIN consensus determines that an editor does not have a COI for a specific article. In response, editors should refrain from further accusing that editor of having a conflict of interest. Feel free to repost at COIN if additional COI evidence comes to light that was not previously addressed. 3. There is no COIN consensus. Here, Lowercase sigmabot III will automatically archive the thread when it is older than 14 days. Once COIN declares that an editor has a COI for a specific article, COIN (or a variety of other noticeboards) may be used to determine whether an edit by a COIN-declared COI editor meets a requirement of the Misplaced Pages:Conflict of interest guideline.
Are you in the right place? An editor can be biased without additionally having a COI. Issues involving bias may be more suited to Misplaced Pages:Neutral point of view/Noticeboard. Issues involving the biographies of living persons policy (BLP) may be more suited to Misplaced Pages:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard. Commercial usernames should be reported to Misplaced Pages:Usernames for administrator attention. Obvious cases of corporate vanity can be tagged with {{db-spam}}. Articles written about a person, group, club or band by such a person, group, club or band with no assertion of notability can be tagged with {{db-bio}} instead. This page is not for reporting simple vandalism, material that can easily be fixed or removed without argument, or non-conflict of interest breaches of the neutral point of view policy. Notes for volunteers To close a report Add Template:Resolved at the head of the complaint, with the reason for closing and your signature. Old issues are taken away by the archive bot. Other ways to help All editors are encouraged to help resolve reports of COI editing. More problematic articles can be found in Category:Misplaced Pages articles with possible conflicts of interest. Category:Misplaced Pages conflict of interest edit requests. Editors who believe they have a conflict of interest may ask someone else to make edits for them. Please visit this category and respond to one of these requests. Whether you perform it or not, you should edit the parameter of the {{edit COI}} when you are done to remove the article from the category. Leave a Talk comment for the requester to explain your decision.
To begin a new discussion, enter the name of the relevant article below:

Possible autobiographies found by bot

• User:AlexNewArtBot/COISearchResult   This is the large mechanically-generated list of articles having a suspected COI that used to be shown here in full. You are still invited to peruse the list and, if you have an opinion on whether it's a real COI, edit that file directly. When you see a case in that list that needs input from other editors, you may want to create a regular noticeboard entry for it, below.

Requested edits

• Category:Requested edits.  Editors who believe they have a Conflict of Interest may ask someone else to make edits for them. Please visit this category and respond to one of these requests. Whether you perform it or not, you should undo the {{Request edit}} when you are done to remove the article from the category. Leave a Talk comment for the requestor to explain your decision.

Nick Schwellenbach

• Nick Schwellenbach (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) - was created by a user named Schwellenbach

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 164.82.144.3 (talk • contribs) 28 February 2008

I believe the subject is borderline notable. Though he created the article himself, he appears not to like the current version, since he tried to blank it, though his change was reverted. The article is at present tagged for notability, which seems correct. A thorough search might bring forth new references to show his notability, though that has not been done yet. Anyone who wants to propose an AfD is of course free to do so. I suggest this be closed as a COI item, since the article is reasonably neutral and very short, and it is appropriately tagged for its remaining issues. EdJohnston (talk) 22:19, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Well the current version is nearly identical to the version this fellow started, except the current version lists the subject as deceased. So its either actually him disagreeing with his life-status or a relative/fan. Maybe a COI tag to the user's page. MBisanz 22:52, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Done. Left a uw-coi for the editor, and put {{Notable Wikipedian}} at Talk:Nick Schwellenbach as warning of the possible autobiography. EdJohnston (talk) 07:15, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

National Policing Improvement Agency

• National Policing Improvement Agency (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Serious Organised Crime Agency (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• List of Special Response Units (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Bamford (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

(See accounts and IP's below) is making many, many, many, many changes without leaving comments or edit summaries and clogging up recent changes and the page histories of National Policing Improvement Agency - (created by Amcluesent), List of Special Response Units, Serious Organised Crime Agency and others.

Claims he works for the NPIA, see . All the accounts and IP's have similar edit patterns. --Hu12 (talk) 20:51, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Good work finding all the IPs. Probably a nice notice about COI and maybe an intro to editing template would be good. If anyone is thinking of blocking any of these IPs, it would probably be nice to report them to Misplaced Pages:Blocking IP addresses since these seem to link back to official UK national police departments. MBisanz 03:29, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

It is not inconceivable that WP might need to work with the UK police on some occasion, so let's be a little bit nice.

The only currently-active logged-in user in this group is Bamford (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log).

We need to get the attention of Bamford, to persuade him to moderate this editing. I suggest semi-protecting both of the articles listed above and all the related UK police articles, to prevent the clogging up of recent changes. Bamford was recently blocked for six hours. Until we can abate the flood of changes, it will be hard to discuss article improvement. The usage of so many IPs is very peculiar by WP standards. My guess is that a number of police employees have been asked to add information, but only Bamford has created an account. I suggest we ask Bamford to agree to some conditions:

• Ask all his colleagues to create an account before editing
• Identify (by account name) all the other editors who have affiliations with his organization
• Provide edit summaries for all changes
• No editing under an IP address
• No reversion of anyone else's edits without a Talk discussion
• Participate in discussions in good faith, and listen to the responses
• No more than 20 edits per day on UK police articles (per editor) until this COI item is resolved.

I suggest semi-protection until this is closed. I welcome your comments on this idea. EdJohnston (talk) 03:52, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Good suggestions. Although I might not list it as directly, say "If you could try avoid editing under an IP address". Also, edit summaries are important, but for many new users, I suspect their easy to forget. MBisanz 04:52, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Please don't block or protect. "Clogging up recent changes" is not a reason to pull out the administrative tools. Leave messages for everybody and explain site standards to them. Coach them how to do things the right way. Jehochman 12:22, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

I strongly support this point of view. Very strongly. Relata refero (talk) 19:56, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Why not? Editing in a manner that messes up the tracking infrastructure and confuses ongoing review of changes is a form of disruptive editing. Gordonofcartoon (talk) 13:21, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

No, it isn't. It means our systems haven't handled it properly. It isn't disruptive in and of itself. Relata refero (talk) 19:56, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

In this context, I don't see the difference. It's an edit pattern that's damaging the purpose of cooperatively creating an encyclopedia. It's academic whether this arises by directly impeding other editors or interacting badly with "the system". Gordonofcartoon (talk) 20:25, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Perplexing situation, there has been multiple attempts at dialog with little or no results. The latest response is a bit concernining, "I find this all rather sad and so pathetic that I can't even be bothered to debate this any further".--Hu12 (talk) 16:16, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm not surprised. Have a look at the three edits that he was blocked for. (After scores of normal ones.) He's blanked the page twice, which is fine, he receives a warning. But in heaven's name, look at the third, which he was blocked for. Sheesh! Relata refero (talk) 20:04, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Just for clarfication as some editors seem to be confused about this - the NPOA is an govt administration and advisory body set up to assist and give direction to Police forces in a number of areas - they are not connected to operational policing as carried out by UK police forces. --Fredrick day (talk) 20:34, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Guess he's decided against any communication. --Hu12 (talk) 01:08, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Article talk vandalism ..--Hu12 (talk) 01:45, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

More:
204.245.42.164 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log)
90.205.89.56 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log)
90.205.89.51 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log)
90.205.89.141 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log)
90.205.89.51 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log)
90.205.89.11 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log)
I've protected the page due to the Anon switching IP's to remove the COI tag--Hu12 (talk) 18:08, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

removed the COI tag, and added 5 links to npia.police.uk.--Hu12 (talk) 13:09, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

More COI tag removal.--Hu12 (talk) 14:36, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#Maintenance_tag_vandalism --Hu12 (talk) 16:04, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Created another sock account Konemannn (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) --Hu12 (talk) 17:11, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

Comment. User:Bamford was indef blocked, and controversial editing of the main articles seem to have stopped a week ago. How do we feel about removing the COI tags? Does anyone see a current problem with their neutrality? To refresh your memory, here are the articles concerned (add others if you see any that were edited significantly):

• National Policing Improvement Agency (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) (COI tagged)
• Serious Organised Crime Agency (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) (COI tagged and semiprotected)
• List of Special Response Units (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Durham (HM Prison) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Low Newton (HM Prison) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Police Staff College, Bramshill (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

EdJohnston (talk) 02:19, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

I'd say another week would be good. There were 5 days between the creation of his last 2 accounts. MBisanz 02:27, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Close? The week has passed. I looked over the articles listed above and noticed no serious problems. I added a notability tag at Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases. Though the issue of American bases may have significance in British politics, the article doesn't show the notability of this particular organization from reliable sources. EdJohnston (talk) 06:32, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Agreed and done. MBisanz 06:35, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Enterprise architecture

Articles:

• Enterprise architect (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Enterprise architecture (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Zachman framework (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• John Zachman (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• (perhaps others)

Single-purpose accounts

• Metaframe (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (Nov 2007 - Feb 2008)
• Lockezachman (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (Jan-Feb 2008)
• Len Morrow (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (Feb 2008)
• Phogg2 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (Feb 2008)
• Ron Gaba (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (Feb 2008)
• Brandy Downs (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (Feb 2008)
• Greg Zorne (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (Feb 2008)
• Tom Corn (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (Feb 2008)
• MatthewFordKern (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (July 2007)
• Mkernatmkerndotcom (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) (March 2008)
• (perhaps others)

Metaframe self-identified as Stan Locke, managing director of Zachman Framework Associates (note similarity in Lockezachman username).

COI edits, which for some reason included removing references and templates, were brought to my attention on my talk page by Ronz; he will probably have more to add here. — Athaenara ✉ 06:31, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Neither John Zachman or Stan Locke is Lockezachman and we detest the comments being entered as ours but in our initial protest of this userid Ronz pointed out there was nothing we could do to stop the use of this ID.— Preceding unsigned comment added by StanLocke (talk • contribs)

Related discussions

• Misplaced Pages talk:WikiProject Spam/2008 Archive Feb 1#Help with Zachman Framework-related links?
• Misplaced Pages:Editor assistance/Requests#Help with Zachman Framework-related articles

--Ronz (talk) 16:12, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Lockezachman claims to "represent a group of about 60" . --Ronz (talk) 16:22, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Anyone else think it's time to semi-protect these articles, given all these new accounts joining in? --Ronz (talk) 18:47, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Enterprise architecture is protected because of the edit-warring there. --Ronz (talk) 19:48, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

I have been editing the Zachman Framework article for the past couple of weeks in an effort to clear up its problems and clear the tags. A few others have made some contributions, but they have been constructive in my opinion. I don't think that article needs to be protected at this stage.

Phogg2 (talk) 20:10, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Ronz: I have only just noticed that you restored important material on the Zachman Framework that users LockeZachman and Len Morrow had deleted for no reason that I could tell. Thank you. --Phogg2 (talk) 01:12, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

You might add User talk:Tom Corn to the list, he contacted me after I semi protected Enterprise Architect to complain about the Wrong Version I believe. MBisanz 17:28, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

This tag-team edit-warring is getting tiresome. --Ronz (talk) 17:41, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Curiously, an editor named User:Metaframe, who is probably the same person as User:Lockezachman, made a very sensible contribution over at Data modeling#Data model, including a new image of the Zachman model. It is at Enterprise architecture, Zachman framework and Enterprise architect that he seems uninterested in paying any attention to our policies. Athaenara left a warning over at User talk:Lockezachman that included a big picture of a stop sign. Apparently this editor feels that only those references that are approved by his company should appear in Misplaced Pages. (We are not allowed to entertain any opposing points of view). Since he doesn't own Misplaced Pages, I'm not sure how he expects to make this happen. EdJohnston (talk) 18:00, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

User:Lockezachman continues to revert out the TOGAF reference. I just left him a blatant vandalism warning. Would welcome some advice on how best to proceed. EdJohnston (talk) 03:33, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

I think it's time for an uninvolved admin to consider an initial block for Lockezachman. --Ronz (talk) 17:03, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

There appear to be grounds for a block on a particular editor, but while we're still meditating on that option, I see there is movement over at Talk:Zachman framework. A couple of editors have been trying to remove the POV issues with the article. Phogg2 appears knowledgable in this area and (though he is still included in the COI list above) he has made some useful edits. Ronz has removed the notability tag from Zachman framework in response to the edits by Phogg2 and Nickmalik. I'm still hoping that someone can improve Enterprise architecture, which is really the parent article for this whole area. EdJohnston (talk) 04:28, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm hoping that the recent progress is a sign that this is coming to a resolution. --Ronz (talk) 18:37, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

StanLocke (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) just edited Athaenara's comment
--Hu12 (talk) 16:50, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

May want to look into these;
Svtveld (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)
Jclouse (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)
Yogishpai (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)
Metaman1 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)
Graham Berrisford (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)
Mbwallace (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)
59.180.191.55 (talk • contribs • deleted contribs • blacklist hits • AbuseLog • what links to user page • COIBot • Spamcheck • count • block log • x-wiki • Edit filter search • WHOIS • RDNS • tracert • robtex.com • StopForumSpam • Google • AboutUs • Project HoneyPot)
71.79.123.117 (talk • contribs • deleted contribs • blacklist hits • AbuseLog • what links to user page • COIBot • Spamcheck • count • block log • x-wiki • Edit filter search • WHOIS • RDNS • tracert • robtex.com • StopForumSpam • Google • AboutUs • Project HoneyPot)
80.36.91.222 (talk • contribs • deleted contribs • blacklist hits • AbuseLog • what links to user page • COIBot • Spamcheck • count • block log • x-wiki • Edit filter search • WHOIS • RDNS • tracert • robtex.com • StopForumSpam • Google • AboutUs • Project HoneyPot)
87.60.223.12 (talk • contribs • deleted contribs • blacklist hits • AbuseLog • what links to user page • COIBot • Spamcheck • count • block log • x-wiki • Edit filter search • WHOIS • RDNS • tracert • robtex.com • StopForumSpam • Google • AboutUs • Project HoneyPot)
81.82.136.70 (talk • contribs • deleted contribs • blacklist hits • AbuseLog • what links to user page • COIBot • Spamcheck • count • block log • x-wiki • Edit filter search • WHOIS • RDNS • tracert • robtex.com • StopForumSpam • Google • AboutUs • Project HoneyPot)
--Hu12 (talk) 17:03, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

User:TStolper1W

→ See also: Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Randell Mills (result: redirect to Hydrino theory)

• Hydrino theory (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

TStolper1W (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has written what is essentially a vanity (i.e. self)-published biography of Randell Mills, an entrepreneur working in an area of unconventional physics. There is a legitimate question of whether there is a WP:COI generated by promoting the target of his work. In his defense, he claims that he has published the book on Amazon free from royalties and claims no other financial ties to Mills or his company, Blacklight Power. He has been asked to refrain from contributing to Hydrino theory, the main page on Mills' work, but shows no interest in stopping. Is there a case to prevent him from contributing at all based on this history? I'd appreciate some expert opinion on this. Ronnotel (talk) 02:01, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Additional information: Stolper is running a single-purpose account - he has only edited regarding Mills. Stolper was blocked once for edit warring on hydrino theory, and also continues to push his own personal POV on the article. Stolper's POV is in direct contradiction to the scientific consensus, which makes the edit warring and COI problems somewhat worse. Michaelbusch (talk) 19:54, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Admin note: awhile back, I restricted TStolper1W (talk · contribs) from editing the article Randell Mills, requesting that he limit himself to making suggestions on the talk page given his evident COI and related issues. However, now the Randell Mills article has been merged/redirected to hydrino theory, where TStolper1W is editing, and rather heavily at that. One option is to extend the sanction I placed on the Randell Mills article to hydrino theory now that the Mills article has been redirected there. MastCell  23:17, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

It's clear (at least to me) that User:TStolper1W has a COI when contributing to either the original article Randell Mills or to the article where it now redirects, Hydrino theory. MastCell banned Stolper from directly editing the Randell Mills article here, and his notice to Stolper can still be seen on the latter's Talk page at User talk:TStolper1W#Notice. If editors who have a COI respond combatively to suggestions from regular editors that they be cautious, this inclines us to limit their editing to the article's Talk page, which is exactly the remedy that MastCell has established in this case. After perusing Stolper's talk page, and noting his approach when he receives comments and suggestions about his COI, I believe the situation fully justifies extending his ban at Randell Mills to include Hydrino theory. Ronnotel already notified him here about the WP:COIN report, but if he does choose to offer comment, we should listen carefully to what he has to say. EdJohnston (talk) 21:56, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

I concur. Provided Tom respects WP basic editing protocols I see no reason not to allow him to try to influence debate on the talk page. However, I would also like to hear more from Tom on this matter. Ronnotel (talk) 01:10, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

My paperback book isn't a biography of Mills. It's an extensively documented and footnoted study of the reception of his work, in historical and contemporary context. The paperback book is available from Amazon for $10.25 + shipping. At that price, there is no profit. Writing such a study and making it available is a credential, not a COI. Mills is a real and original scientist. No pseudoscientist has ever been able to do all that Mills has done: found a company, direct it himself for over 16 years, raise over $50 million for it, recruit and retain scientists and engineers with standard degrees and research backgrounds to work with him and for him, make presentations at scientific meetings, and publish dozens of peer-reviewed scientific articles about his work. TStolper1W (talk) 15:43, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for joining the discussion. You were invited to contribute here because an administrator, MastCell, is planning to extend your existing article ban on Randell Mills to include Hydrino theory as well. Your blanket defence of Mills's wonderful work doesn't give us much reason to take you seriously, since you didn't make any reference to obeying Misplaced Pages policies. Please explain how you plan to moderate your editing in the future so that you don't continue to deserve a ban from the Mills-related articles. EdJohnston (talk) 18:24, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

We seem to be far apart. Michaelbusch has been biased in the extreme against Mills from the word go, as one can see from what Michaelbusch has done and has written in the discussion elsewhere. In this section, he added a charge against me of running a single-purpose account (see above). It’s illogical to ask me to edit articles about which I know less in order to edit the article about which I know the most. As even Ronnotel conceded at the bottom of my User talk page, I know as much about that material as anyone (other than Mills himself). Refusal to allow a defense of Mills proportionate to the attack on him in the Misplaced Pages would be very unneutral. TStolper1W (talk) 15:32, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

TStolper, you seem to misunderstand the purpose of this COI discussion. This is not about your views of Mills, or your mis-understanding of my enforcing Misplaced Pages's adherence to the scientific consensus. Here we are trying to determine if your block from editing of Randell Mills should be extended to hydrino theory, nothing more. As Ed noted, you are not helping yourself. Michaelbusch (talk) 18:31, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

It’s not a COI to have studied, since 1991, the reception of Mills’ work, nor to have written and made available an extensively documented study of that reception. It’s a credential. The Misplaced Pages wasn’t founded to enforce orthodoxy. Enforcing orthodoxy by silencing other views stunts the progress of science and always has. Refusal to allow a defense of Mills proportionate to the attack on him in the Misplaced Pages would be unneutral at best. TStolper1W (talk) 13:29, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Actually that IS what wikipedia is suppose to do - we take the mainstream view on things using published sources - the "progress of science" is irrelevant to wikipedia. --Fredrick day (talk) 13:38, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Let's do this: TStolper1 may comment freely on the Talk:Hydrino theory. However, he is limited to 0RR in editing the article hydrino theory. This means that he may make an edit (as proposed text), but if it is reverted for any reason, then he may not reinsert it, in any form. This is an alternative to a complete ban from editing the article which would allow TStolper1 to contribute text suggestions directly, but not to edit-war. Expertise is welcome, but where there is a clear and well-documented connection as exists here, that expertise should be used persuasively on the talk page rather than by editing (or edit-warring) on the article directly. I'll open this for comment before imposing it. MastCell  19:23, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Sounds OK to me. It does depend on him knowing how the 0RR works. I assume you'll be the one enforcing it so you'll be able to explain it if he winds up violating the ban due to misunderstanding. EdJohnston (talk) 14:28, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps a WP:1RR would give him enough leeway to avoid being blocked out of unfamiliarity yet have the same practical effect of preventing him from engaging in edit warring. Zero reverts seems akin to a topic ban. Ronnotel (talk) 14:45, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

MastCell, what is the connection to which you currently object? TStolper1W (talk) 16:49, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

MastCell, I like the idea of your proposal above, but I'm afraid Stolpher has considered it license to add bollocks back to the article - which I have just reverted. Please see hydrino theory's page history. Michaelbusch (talk) 18:12, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

And again yesterday evening (revert by Athaenara). Michaelbusch (talk) 18:19, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

MastCell has updated TStolper1W's article ban to a 1RR on Hydrino theory here. EdJohnston (talk) 03:19, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Based on his editing history, Stolper will likely not change his editing habits with a 1RR/24 h ban - in the past week he has logged on three times, blanket-reverted to one version of his unacceptable content, accused the editors that removed it previously (three different editors) of having a personal grudge against Mills, and then gone away for roughly two days. Unless something stricter than 1RR/24 h is implemented, this will presumably continue. I may be overly cynical, but Stolper has demonstrated persistence. Michaelbusch (talk) 18:31, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Cleveland Museum of Art

• Cleveland Museum of Art (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• LAndrewsCMA (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Laura Andrews, a communications assistant at the Cleveland Museum of Art, recently made some edits to the article. She substantially expanded it, added pictures, etc. Her edits were later reverted as being inappropriate in tone. She emailed me, confused, asking what had happened. I'd like someone (or several someones) willing to work with her to make this article better. Raul654 (talk) 18:07, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

The edits by User:LAndrewsCMA did create an article with a promotional tone. Unfortunately, there is no relevant conversation happening on the article's Talk page. Since this article is causing so much trouble, maybe stubbifying is the right thing to do. Promotional edits keep on being made, and then policy-enforcers sweep through and revert them, so we need a genuine improvement (even if it's only a stubbification) to stop the cycle of reverts. Any volunteers? :-) EdJohnston (talk) 02:02, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

I will leave her a message and try to help.--Slp1 (talk) 01:58, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

I can't really see the problem - she has not edited it for over a month. If she wants to be useful, releasing low-res images of star works of theirs we have articles on like The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew (Caravaggio) and Battle of the Nudes (engraving) would be a sensible way to boost their PR. Johnbod (talk) 02:33, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Johnbod, thanks for your improvements. Can other editors look at Johnbod's March 1 version to see if they agree it's sufficiently neutral? EdJohnston (talk) 02:44, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks - feel free to keep adding artist links after I got fed up doing so ... :) Johnbod (talk) 03:04, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

COI tag on Leon's

• Leon's (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

Over the past 18 months, an IP user (207.188.94.238 (talk · contribs · WHOIS)) has made less than 10 minor edits to an article which, as of a few days ago, s/he was revealed as being connected with (via the Helpdesk edit in the history). Now two editors have added the COI tag, which says, "The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter.". This doesn't seem to fit with the minor contributions of the IP editor - is this correct use of the tag? Anchoress · Weigh Anchor · Catacomb 08:48, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Per this removal of a paragraph of criticism by the IP editor I think the COI tag is justified. The comments by this IP at the Help Desk should be carefully listened to, though, since under WP:BLP the subject of an article is allowed to remove what they believe to be factual errors. It needs an investigation to see whether the removed paragraph is truly justified, since it may not be relevant to an article about the furniture store. (Misbehavior by a relative of the store owner seems remote, unless his activities are blessed by the store management in some way). Consider inviting the IP editor and the person who restored the COI tag to join this discussion. EdJohnston (talk) 18:42, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Naseba

• Naseba (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Scott ragsdale (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• 125.16.229.162 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Veena.ammadu (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Indira.ravi (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Sachinuppal (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

125.16.229.162 (talk · contribs) who is trying to remove fact tags and resisting clean-up on Naseba and associated articles such as Scott ragsdale, doesn't communicate. IP resolves to Naseba so clear COI. Also likely that Indira.ravi (talk · contribs) and Veena.ammadu (talk · contribs) are same editor. --Fredrick day (talk) 13:23, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Persistant little IP isn't he? Has he hit 3RR yet? Didn't look too closely at the others, but WP:SSP might be the best place. Do you think the article needs semi-protection at this point? MBisanz 18:48, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

I added {{userlinks}} above for users Veena.ammadu, Indira.ravi, and Sachinuppal. — Athaenara ✉ 17:53, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

Gamers: The Movie

For nearly three months, Encyclopedia Mike (talk · contribs) has made dozens of edits across multiple articles that all promote a small independent film, Gamers: The Movie. The same user created the movie's article and an article on its director, Chris Folino. Many edits are trivial insertions to promote the film, such as this, this and this. As far as I can tell, the user's entire edit history has been a campaign to promote the film throughout Misplaced Pages. Conflict of interest? —Whoville (talk) 20:04, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Whoville, are you saying that any of those edits were inappropriate? COI requires bad edits. It doesn't matter if the contributor only cares about one thing, in itself; if he's merely self-promotional, then it's COI (and I suspect that's what you mean). I don't want to follow all the links unless you are asserting that some of them are bad edits, right? Pete St.John (talk) 21:32, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

The links above are examples of where the film or its director have been inserted into articles with a non-notable connection. I don't think it's notable that Gamers: The Movie is an example of a "mockumentary" and needs mention in that article, or that because the film features a Loverboy song it requires a mention in the band's article. Or that This is Spinal Tap is in any way notably linked to Gamers: The Movie. That's the type of COI I'm concerned about. I've since found other edits from a second IP address that inserted Folino's name into articles connected to his birthdate, cities he lived in and lists of genuinely notable screenwriters and directors. A separate discussion is whether Gamers: The Movie and Chris Folino meet Misplaced Pages's notability criteria in the first place. —Whoville (talk) 21:57, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

These look like examples of spamming which needs dealing with; but unfortunately it only comes under the conflict of interest brief if there's solid evidence (e.g. self-identification, IP address) showing the editor(s) to be connected with the movie. Gordonofcartoon (talk) 22:44, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Help me out, then. Is there a different process for reporting this kind of spam? I figured it would be rejected as vandalism which is why I didn't report it at WP:AIV. Since there seems to be some consensus that these edits are inappropriate, I'd hate to think they'll be ignored because of a procedural technicality. —Whoville (talk) 22:57, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

I am the author in question. The movie in question was critically acclaimed by several movie websites. Both the author and the movie were covered by major media outlets for film like CNN, ABC television and the Hollywood Reporter. All the facts are verified. I swear on a stack of bibles that I am not doing this to promote the film and I am receiving no financial gain from it whatsoever. I find this to be a talented up and coming director who made a very good acclaimed movie. As far as the links go, I am new on Misplaced Pages. I thought you were supposed to link your work. If it came off as overexuberant, I apologize. (Although I would say that linking a movie voted BEST FILM OF 2006 by two sources to LOVERBOY is hardly undermining LOVERBOY.) But I honestly want to follow and respect Wiki's rules. Most importantly, I would hate to see a notable subject penalized for my lack of procedural knowledge. I hope the articles in question stay. I believe this is an artist of merit. I would very much like make this an Misplaced Pages insertion considered scholarly and proper. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Encyclopedia Mike (talk • contribs) 05:25, 29 February 2008 (UTC) --Encyclopedia Mike (talk) 06:23, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Whoville, if it helps you resolve this faster, I will refrain from making any further edits regarding Folino or the film in the future. Being new to Misplaced Pages I thought everything had to be cross referenced. Again, I will happily leave further authorship on this subject to others to avoid the appearance of conflict. Thank you.--Encyclopedia Mike (talk) 07:09, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Peter Smith (painter)

• Peter Smith (painter) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Stainlesssteel666 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Fairly obviously a self-promoting account, since he's responsible for just editing Peter Smith (painter) and adding a massive, spammy section to Mansfield advertising the same. Is he even notable? 91.84.79.118 (talk) 10:06, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

No, he is not. AfD it, adding to Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Visual arts. Johnbod (talk) 03:01, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Politician Dean A. Hrbacek

• Article: Dean A. Hrbacek (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Talk:Dean A. Hrbacek (edit | article | history | links | watch | logs)

Single-purpose accounts with apparent conflicts of interest:

• Watchingthedog (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Qp10io1011 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Jbgtx (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• 99.128.112.102 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) removed "Photoshop controversy" three times (so far). — Athaenara ✉ 23:10, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Various users have been edit warring on the article about Hrbacek, a politician who is a current congressional candidate in Texas.

User JamesMLane (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has attempted to engage the other users on the article talk page. The issues came to my attention on the Third opinion project. — Athaenara ✉ 18:46, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Common Cause article may need attention again

→ See also: COI/N archive 8 (two sections) and COI/N archive 14.

• Article: Common Cause (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• User Dbarnold1 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Single-purpose account user Dbarnold1 expanded the article four-fold today. Earlier discussions of COI edits to this article are in more than one COI/N archive; the difference this time is that quite a few references to independent sources (in addition to several citations of the organization's own website) were added. I'm posting here to draw the attention of impartial editors to it again. — Athaenara ✉ 20:05, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

The article has been in the Category:2004 U.S. presidential election controversy and irregularities since 2004 (diff). User Dbarnold1 removed it today (diff). I invited discussion on Talk:Common Cause#Question about removal of category. — Athaenara ✉ 17:51, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

I am a student volunteer for this organization. However, I do not feel that I have a conflict of interest that would require me to withdraw from editing this article. I volunteer for their media and democracy department, which I made sure to not comment on as to avoid bias. I also made sure to cite credible sources for each statement made, pulling only from the organization's website for the mission statement, membership/funding data, and only two references to issues. — Dbarnold1 (talk • contribs) —Preceding comment was added at 00:03, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

A well-known organization like Common Cause that is active in public issues should be heavily covered in the press. We prefer to reflect what outsiders say about an organization rather than what the organization says about itself, unless the facts involved are quite simple and uncontroversial. Someone who works in the media department of Common Cause should have access to lots of press clippings, I would assume. The current opening of the article sounds promotional, and we don't usually include multi-sentence direct quotes of somebody's mission statement as in:

Common Cause’s mission is: “To strengthen public participation and faith in our institutions of self-government; to ensure that government and political processes serve the general interest, rather than special interests; to curb the excessive influence of money on government decisions and elections; to promote fair elections and high ethical standards for government officials; and to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans

It would be OK to address some of those topics in our article, but we should obtain reasonably neutral and balanced press sources for the quality and extent of Common Cause's work in each area. We should not just report Common Cause's own opinion on how well everything turned out. EdJohnston (talk) 03:17, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

Just a note that I've taken this article off my watch list, where it had been since the first COI/N discussion nearly a year ago. — Athaenara ✉ 13:38, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Edits that promote company by the supposed new key person

• Intown Suites (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Collierdaily (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Template:Intown Suites - I have discovered several edits within the last month on the page Intown Suites (which I initially created) by a user named Collierdaily. These edits, for the most part, have changed the content of the article from a near neutral point-of-view to a promotion of the chain (some of these changes I have reverted). One of the changes that has been made is that the "key people" section of the template has been changed from "David Vickers, Cheryl Vickers" to "Scott Griffith, Collier Daily." Not that doing this is anything wrong, but that the user who has been making the changes that promote the chain is one of the key people of the company. This user's contributions now list just 6 edits, all of the Intown Suites article.Tatterfly (talk) 20:23, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Follow-up: A Google search of "Intown Suites" and "Collier Daily" produces just 5 hits, one of them which is the Misplaced Pages article on Intown Suites.Tatterfly (talk) 04:41, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

FreeLife

Article

• FreeLife (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

Editor

• Freelifelegal (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Freelifelegal has been informed of WP:COI and WP:U, but could still use some help getting a new username as well as assistance with editing FreeLife. --Ronz (talk) 17:12, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

I restored this complaint from Archive_22, since the debate is heating up. User:Freelifelegal has been blocked for 3RR. Looking at Talk:FreeLife, that page shows a history of not-terribly-cooperative editing going back to April, 2007. There have been complaints about company supporters removing negative information at several points during the last 11 months. Barek has lately been doing some useful cleanup work on the article. In its current form, the article looks OK to me, but we may have to persuade Freelifelegal to edit more carefully in the future. Though Freelifelegal's user name may appear promotional, I wouldn't suggest blocking for username unless further issues appear. Anyone who has the time is urged to leave messages at User talk:Freelifelegal if you notice any further edits that seem worrisome. At this point, we can't consider the COI-affected editors to be newbies any more. EdJohnston (talk) 00:41, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Jsteelefreelife (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)
Jody Steele (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · blacklist hits · AbuseLog · what links to user page · count · COIBot · Spamcheck · user page logs · x-wiki · status · Edit filter search · Google · StopForumSpam)
Not sure if these are related, but may be.--Hu12 (talk) 01:06, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

I took me a while to get anyone to even comment on my edits. Finally Barek will be working to help create a balanced entry. I chose this username so that there would be no question that I was associated with FreeLife (a the suggestion of Jimbo Wales to our company). One of my first posts on the discussion page was that I was associated with FreeLife, was a newbie to Misplaced Pages, and would appreciate any help I could get to ensure I was not violating the COI rules. I received absolutely no responses until all my edit were recently removed without any explanation on the discussion page. There seems to be a tendency to immediately jump to the conclusion that anyone associated with the company cannot possibly make edits without violating the COI rule. I respectfully disagree. I am thrilled that Barek is now involved and I will work within the rules with his help to get this entry to where it should be.Freelifelegal (talk) 16:12, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

XBRL

Article

• XBRL (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

The page XBRL could use some attention. Almost all recent editors seem to have COI issues, large or small (including Lancet75, Colcomgroup, Mike Willis, and myself). I include myself in this category since I have been an editor of the XBRL specification, and I'm asking for some advice about the quality of my editing on the page and the talk page. Thanks! Dvunkannon (talk) 03:57, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Since XBRL is an open standard, that argues in its favor. But nearly all the information provided in the article is from proponents. Isn't there any press coverage? Who needs XBRL, exactly? Who invented it? Does anyone agree with them? What's the extent of its adoption? Does it have disadvantages? Are there alternatives to XBRL? Our readers might like to know these things. EdJohnston (talk) 21:43, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

user Crlittle1

• User Crlittle1 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

i see no other edits besides inclusion into many dozens of articles 'references' and 'see also' promoting author's own book, with 'helpful' link to amazon page for same. i left a notice on user's talk page, no response. if there's a way to blanket revert all of these i think it would be appropriate. Anastrophe (talk) 05:55, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

I agree. They can't be "references" if he wasn't actually adding content to the article, and most of the other entries were under "further reading", with links to amazon.com. Rolling back now. --SB_Johnny | 16:18, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

thanks kindly. Anastrophe (talk) 17:06, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

user:Jossi

The following discussion is an archived report. Please do not modify it. Subsequent reports should be made in a new section.

No action required or taken. MastCell  18:34, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

User Jossi had declared that he will not be abusing his administrative power's for promoting cult view, as it is established beyond doubt that he is promoter of cult view's on wikipedia, and abuses his administrative power to delete pages without any scope of discussion, attempt to discuss matter with him result in response such as uh!! as a latest example he himself was involved in nominating a page for deletion and then deleting the page himself. Under normal circumstances if an admin is acting as editor, he must not abuse his admin power's in those article's, especially when it is well known and accepted by himself that he will stay away from editing or abusing cult related topic's on wikipedia. --talk-to-me! (talk) 16:28, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

With a user-name such as User:Cult free world, that contravenes WP:IU, and with accusations that are personal attacks, such as calling me a "cult member", you should know better than to continue soapboxing and trolling my page. If you have any issues with my admin actions, feel free to report them at WP:AN. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 16:55, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

The page you refer: Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Sahaj Marg was deleted by User:Can't sleep, clown will eat me, and not by me. ≈ jossi ≈ (talk) 16:57, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

I have responded to above statement on Jossi's talk page, but he has removed it, without giving any response --talk-to-me! (talk) 17:08, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

And also on my talk page --talk-to-me! (talk) 17:13, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

User:CultFreeWorld's (aka talk-to-me!) stated purpose is to create a cult free world. This strong POV bias even appears in his user name. He name-calls and harasses any person he thinks is practicing an eastern spiritual tradition with a guru. He is not here to create valid Wiki articles but to promote this POV (consider his user name).

Are there some sanctions available for this type of behavior? It is slanderous to run around calling everyone who has expertise in eastern spiritual traditions cult members. It's like someone running around and calling every German a Nazi. 66.240.236.80 (talk) 18:24, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

User:Jossi has declared a COI regarding Prem Rawat and related articles. It's appropriate for him to avoid editing those articles and he has committed to doing so. While he may have a POV on articles concerning cults in general, he does not have a conflict of interest with that broad topic. This request is inappropriate for that reason. Further, the article was properly deleted. Jossi is free to remove items from his talk page just as user:Cult free world may also remove material from his own talk page. I don't see any legitimate issue here. ·:· Will Beback ·:· 18:26, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Affinion Group

• Tnspdr (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Shearwater63 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
• Affinion Group (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) - Two accounts, User:Tnspdr, whe has edited from an IP belonging to the company in question, , and User:Shearwater63 , who admits to being an employee of the company, are tag-teaming to remove negative information from the article. Tnspdr, who had been inactive since before Shearwater63 began editing, returned to revert warring after Shearwater was blocked earlier today for violating the 3RR and then warned for block evasion. In particular, the editors are interested in keeping the several other names under which the company has done business out of the intro. They also generally blank some or all of the section on complaints that have been made against the company. -- Vary | Talk 21:46, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

User:CCHRInternational removing content from Citizens Commission on Human Rights

• Citizens Commission on Human Rights (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• CCHRInternational (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Also adding poor content, probably copied from CCHR materials. John Nevard (talk) 06:23, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

Alex.muller blocked the account indefinitely 3 days ago. — Athaenara ✉ 04:41, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

User:212.183.163.237 appears to be advertising books by an Italian publisher

212.183.163.237 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) edits seem to be adding lots of book references to material published by Zecchini Editore who appear to specialise in classical music books.--Peter cohen (talk) 14:41, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

Failure to understand the term "references" is a dead giveaway. Don't think there's a COI here but it's definitely spam. Reverted. MER-C 12:25, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I thought it might be COI as it was adding disproportionate weight to this publisher as a source. How should I report such incidents in future?--Peter cohen (talk) 15:11, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

WT:WPSPAM - 52 Pickup (deal) 20:01, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Request for opinion about myself

I have been accused of having a conflict of interest. Since I develop real estate on the island of Bonaire, and used to own a hotel there, it has been suggested that I should not have made this edit. By extension, I would think that my edits to the Natalee Holloway article would be called into question as well. I think that that is on the level of claiming that someone from Boston can't edit an article about Kitty Genovese, but I am airing the accusation here so that I can see the consensus.Kww (talk) 14:16, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

In terms of the deletion of the reference to Holloway from the Aruba article, I see no conflict of interest there - I believe that there is no need to mention her in the body of the article (see Missing white woman syndrome).

For the Holloway article itself, most of your edits look fine, although I'm not so sure about this change. Why delete a link to a news article from a point in the article where a citation was explicitly requested? - 52 Pickup (deal) 19:57, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Stylistic, I guess. The citation needed flag seemed to be on the concept that there was coverage on Aruba (which really seems to be kind of a pointy flag in the first place), not on the fact that Aruba has Dutch, Papiamentu, and English newspapers.Kww (talk) 20:04, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Hmm. To me, the sentence says both 1) there was coverage on Aruba; and 2) Aruba has Dutch, Papiamentu, and English newspapers. Since this is an example of such local coverage (although Amigoe is based in Curaçao, Aruba still appears to be within the paper's circulation area) I think it is worth inclusion. Apart from that, I saw no other problems with your conduct, unless anyone who disagrees can provide a diff that proves the contrary. - 52 Pickup (deal) 21:07, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

No harm here, but that you for being careful. Bearian (talk) 20:45, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

User:ArborBooks

ArborBooks (talk · contribs) is a WP:SPA responsible for Oasis Entertainment (along with FeareygroupPR (talk · contribs)) and Derrick Ashong. The latter has had speedy declined under db-bio, and there is a potential notability argument, but in present form the article is pretty much vanispamcruftisement, and the Oasis article isn't a lot better. --Dhartung | Talk 00:51, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

John Saldivar

Article: John Saldivar (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
User: Jsnyc79 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

A self-penned article that has been tagged for various things since Feb 2008. User:Jsnyc79 continually removes the tags, the main one being lack of references for which he doesn't seem inclined to provide. There is also a smattering of peacock terms. It's debatable as to whether this article should go to AfD but I'd be grateful for other eyes on it first. WebHamster 03:17, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

I cleaned up this article, formatted the references and reduced the promotional tone. Can others look at it and decide if the tags can be removed? If the article creator reverts the improvement, we might consider other measures. Since the article is neutral now and is quite short, I don't see the need to keep a COI tag on the front. Perhaps the 'Notable Wikipedian' banner is enough warning of possible autobiography, and it goes on the Talk page. References seem to show just enough notability to have an article on him. Your opinion is welcome. EdJohnston (talk) 05:51, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

User:Wcfirm and Channing Tatum

• Channing Tatum (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

See WP:AN#Second opinion for spammer (User:Wcfirm, Channing Tatum). Wcfirm (talk · contribs) has spent the last year here doing almost nothing but squeezing mentions of his own site into the article for actor Channing Tatum. He (she?) is now claiming his site is official (despite being a blogspot.com site) and therefore is more appropriate - but an entire paragraph?! Thread at WP:AN and recent WP:AN3 report have led to a week-long block. —Wknight94 (talk) 12:26, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

I Googled for it and found another site channing-tatum.com that claims that the blogspot site is the official site. It could well be, because blogspot is easy to mantain and Google gives good search engine ranking to its own domain. Now a days the upcoming actors and musicians use free Web platforms like blogspot, facebook, and myspace to promote themselves. Igor Berger (talk) 13:00, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

• Laquishe (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

MaxSem blocked Wcfirm for a week at 05:54, 6 March 2008 UTC. At 06:31 UTC, another single-purpose account, Laquishe, began editing. Same? — Athaenara ✉ 21:14, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

• channingtatumunwrapped.blogspot.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Misplaced Pages: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com
• channing-tatum.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Misplaced Pages: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

--Hu12 (talk) 21:39, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I'd say Laquishe is a sock. That account has been indefblocked and Wcfirm's block has been doubled to two weeks. —Wknight94 (talk) 22:02, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Although I am not an admin, I would say that his block needs to be extended again, as he continued to sock puppet even after he was warned not to. Here is an edit by his new blocked sockpuppet to my userpage. Daedalus (talk) 22:45, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Already done. A month now although I don't expect it will end there. —Wknight94 (talk) 04:09, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Millennium Pharmaceuticals

• Millennium Pharmaceuticals (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• Millenniumpharmaceuticals (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

I rescued this article from deletion, because the company is clearly notable, but User Millenniumpharmaceuticals keeps insisting on changing the article into a piece of marketing blurb rather than an encyclopedia article. My patience is running out, and I'm sure I will end up being uncivil if I carry on trying to sort this out, so could someone please help out? Phil Bridger (talk) 19:55, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

I have soft-blocked the user for having a promotional user name. Bearian (talk) 20:43, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Article for Eve Wyrwal

→ See also: Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion/Iga A.

• Eve Wyrwal (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

It seems that a person or persons believing to be in contact with or running a site about Eve Wyrwal have been editing and/or vandalizing this page with conflicting information. They have not cited a source, but have alluded to a website that has questionable credibility in their edit summary. A portion of the information they edit is conflicting when checked against her published word in Nuts Magazine. Nicht Nein! (talk) 00:27, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

you have the wrong link. that lijnk goes to a polis model named Iga. Smith Jones (talk) 03:55, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

If you look at the page history, you will see that there have been several Eve Wyrwal and Iga A. page moves, with the pages alternately serving as redirects to each other ... — Athaenara ✉ 06:22, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Yeah that is part of the problem, Iga A is just one of her nicknames, the usage of Eve Wyrwal is more wide spread. The page should be Eve Wyrwal. Nicht Nein! (talk) 22:23, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

We have an infobox that notes if a woman has natural breasts? --Fredrick day (talk) 18:03, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

You learn new things every day on this Noticeboard! Can anyone figure out the history of Iga A., which seems to involve an OTRS complaint? It appears that the administrator John Reaves had to intervene to impose move protection on one of the articles. Someone in the edit history is complaining about FlieGerFaUstMe262 adding incorrect information, but I have no idea who is right. An edit like this one should only be done with consensus. Various IP editors have been indignantly reverting the changes by FlieGerFaUstMe262. EdJohnston (talk) 20:26, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Possibly an easier way of handling this: is this Eva/Eve/Iga notable enough for inclusion per Misplaced Pages:Notability (people)? Gordonofcartoon (talk) 21:14, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, there are many un-notable women in that category. I would say it is "the" un-notable category, and when weighed against others in that category I would say yes, notable. The complaining editor threatened to "take over the wiki" if I did not comply with his point of view. Then after claimed he filed a ticket. My case is that they have not cited a source, even an un-credible source. When they did imply a source, asking anyone who would disagree to contact an admin at what appears to be a fan site; one of the many fan sites with incorrect and conflicting information. The information I keep reverting to is information from a well know magazine that is publishing words from her mouth. Nicht Nein! (talk) 22:23, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Too complicated. I've passed it to AFD. Gordonofcartoon (talk) 01:09, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

For the Record I have been correcting the article. The website refered to is the official site for Iga Wyrwal, currently under development. FlieGerFaUstMe262 has cited nuts as his source, for the americans amongst us this is akin to somone saying "It must be true i read it in The Enquirer". These Lads Mags are notorious for making things up. The daily Star for example will change her age every time she is on page 3. My Source is Iga Herself. I can provide concrete proof of this but i'm not prepared to publish it on a public forum, (i have although sent it as an attachemt to the OTRS Complaint) If anyone can email me then i will do so. As for the name, Before coming to the UK Iga used her real name, The Daily Star used the name Eva & Eve without her consent, as they decided that this would be easier for people to pronouce this as you can see causes much confusion. For the Record She would prefer to be refered to as IGA or IGA A. All Iga & myself want is for the correct information to be displayed. Whilst i understand the difficulty you have in verifying information you must understand the sheer annoyance of somone trying to change incorrect information about themselves only to have it reverted DigitalWebDev (talk) 02:21, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Paul Wall

A user editing under name Otherbrothergideon (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) claims to be the father of the rapper Paul Wall and is changing the birth name and date of the biographical article contrary to what reliable sources have cited. I have tried finding whatever claims that "Otherbrothergideon" has put up, and so far no reliable source relays them. Thus, I have warned the editor about the "conflict of interest". Chances are that this user may be an impersonator. --Andrewlp1991 (talk) 07:06, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Did the right thing. Given he's been at this over a year and seems persistent, I might point him towards OTRS which can better evaluate his identity, etc. MBisanz 08:19, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Murdo MacDonald-Bayne

• Murdo MacDonald-Bayne (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

I stumbled on this after a posting to the external links guidelines talk page. It seems there is a disagreement about external links on this page that may be fueled by conflicts of interest by (I think) all currently involved parties. More eyeballs and comments from established editors could be useful. -- SiobhanHansa 10:56, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Considerable lack of sources too: all I can find are bios on a handful of tribute/promotional sites. Gordonofcartoon (talk) 00:57, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Richard Tylman

Richard Tylman (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

This biographical article on a Vancouver illustrator is almost exclusively the product of Poeticbent (talk · contribs) and a number of IP addresses tracing back to the Vancouver Public Library. In the course of an ongoing exchange with Poeticbent concerning copyright and verifiability issues, I came across a “Selection of articles written for Misplaced Pages” on Richard Tylman’s website. This list matches those originating with Poeticbent. My queries to the user as to whether he and Tylman might be one and the same have gone unanswered. To be fair, Poeticbent has asked that I email him concerning this issue. I prefer discussing Misplaced Pages matters within the pages of the encyclopedia itself and have written as much. Thus far, no email exchange has taken place. I am concerned by the presence of references which either fail to support associated statements or – supported only by Tylman’s writing on his website – do not meet the verifiability policy. Poetricbent has removed my citation requests without explanation. I am particularly troubled by a new source which was added to Tylman's site, then linked to the article shortly after I questioned the lack of sources for the associated claim. Victoriagirl (talk) 15:58, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

I've copied this over to Misplaced Pages talk:WikiProject Visual arts, where they have experience of what counts as acceptably sourced from an artist's own site and what demands external sourcing. That said, Poeticbent comes across strongly as wikilawyering on the matter of inclusion. If a detail is unsourced, or there's a discrepancy between what different sources say, it's well within policy to remove it pending verification. Gordonofcartoon (talk) 17:14, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

The subject seems notable as verified by independent sources. I see no bias or self-promotion; if a subject is willing to provide additional information (such as the document uploaded above) the better for our project. With regards to copyright, if the artist wants text (images, etc.) from his website to be used on Misplaced Pages, he should license them under a compatible free license. PS. Personally I oppose anonymity, but it should be noted it is accepted within our current rules. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk} 00:16, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

The subject seems notable as verified by independent sources

Actually I'd like to see some - and in fact some general proof of this guy's notability (we all set up mimeographed mags when we were at uni, and anyone can self-publish poetry). We're placing far too much reliance on material on this artists's own site. I could set up a site saying I'm Lord of the Universe, but I hope you'd need more than that as verification. Gordonofcartoon (talk) 01:44, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Order of the Arrow

Order of the Arrow (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) - Editors and a number of administrators who are also members of the Order of the Arrow are violating conflict of interest policies by prohibiting verifiable OA “secrets” from being included in the Order of the Arrow entry. To get around disputes on policy they have created a unilateral concensus that so-called "safeguarded" OA literature and information is off limits for inclusion in the article. however, such a concensus should not be allowed to stand since it a) was arrived at by a group that self-identifies as OA members b) that OA membership carries with it an oath not to reveal this "safeguarded" information c) creates a defacto censorship of the Order of the Arrow entry. Ahoalton1 (talk) 18:05, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

I understand what you are saying and agree why the circumstances as described might create the appearance of collusion. But I fail to see how that can be extended to assume that a COI exists. I see no harm in allowing members of the Order of the Arrow to continue contributing to that page. If verifiable and notable information is being kept of the page (please cite diffs), then that might reasonably be a matter for an WP:RFC. Ronnotel (talk) 18:23, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

A COI exists because the editors are under obligation by the Order of the Arrow to keep certain information secret. They take an oath affirming as much. While I have no objection to their not revealing such information themselves, it becomes a conflict of interest when they enforce this "safeguarding" on the wikipedia community at large. They have literally reached a consensus to censor and entire body of verifiable information.--Ahoalton1 (talk) 18:41, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

If you can provide diffs that support your claims of censorship of well-sourced information then it would be easier to establish that something inappropriate is going on. However, I'm still not sure this is a COI issue. I think it might be more appropriate at WP:AN/I. The more evidence you have, the easier time you will have in getting someone to intervene. Ronnotel (talk) 20:52, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

• Related cases:
  • Misplaced Pages:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2008-03-11 Order of the Arrow
  • Misplaced Pages:Suspected sock puppets/Ahoalton

--— Gadget850 (Ed)  - 20:56, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

This was opened by a indefinitely blocked disruptive sockpuppet. Dreadstar † 22:51, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

• Misplaced Pages noticeboards