Wikipedia:Conflict of interest/Noticeboard

Welcome to Conflict of interest Noticeboard (COIN)
Sections older than 14 days archived by Lowercase sigmabot III. (For help, see Wikipedia: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 Wikipedia 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 Wikipedia: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 Wikipedia:Conflict of interest guideline.
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Help answer requested edits

Category:Wikipedia conflict of interest edit requests is where COI editors have placed the {{edit COI}} template: Wikipedia conflict of interest edit requests Talk:260 Collins Talk:American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Talk:Pamela Anderson Talk:AvePoint Talk:Moshe Bar (neuroscientist) Talk:BEE Japan Talk:Edi Birsan Talk:Edouard Bugnion Talk:Bunq Talk:Captions (app) Talk:Charles Martin Castleman Talk:Casualty Actuarial Society Talk:Cofra Holding Talk:Cohen Milstein Talk:Chris Daniels (musician) Talk:Dell Technologies Talk:Michael Dell Talk:Etraveli Group Talk:Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (novel) Talk:Steven Grinspoon Talk:Grizzly Creek Fire Talk:Group-IB Talk:Henley & Partners Talk:Insight Meditation Society Talk:International Motors Talk:Daymond John Talk:Norma Kamali Talk:Dafna Lemish Talk:Gigi Levy-Weiss Talk:Los Angeles Jewish Health Talk:Alexa Meade Talk:Metro AG Talk:Alberto Musalem Talk:NAPA Auto Parts Talk:NextEra Energy Talk:Matthew Parish Talk:Barbara Parker (California politician) Talk:QuinStreet Talk:Sharp HealthCare Talk:Shuntarō Tanikawa Talk:Theatre Development Fund Talk:University of Toronto Faculty of Arts and Science Talk:Uppsala Monitoring Centre Talk:Zions Bancorporation

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.

More likely paid editing: User:Lamoxlamae

User

• Lamoxlamae (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)

Articles

• PlayGen (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• NanoMission (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• FloodSim (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

It looks like I've found another case of paid editing. The creation of these related articles synchs up with this posting on getafreelancer dot com, contracted from an account "wisdomgame" to an account "lamoxlamae" on 11/20. The articles appeared 6-10 days later in a manner very similiar to that described in the posting. Since paid editing is a touchy subject I think it's worthwhile to bring it up here for discussion and to log the case in the record books.

I've only tagged the articles for coi, but none of the articles appear notable so I think AfD is the next place to head, unless there is significant objection to that here or a better idea on how to handle the situation. ThemFromSpace 01:59, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Terrific ... I just added them to my watch list. Johnuniq (talk) 04:20, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

I went ahead and put these up in separate AfDs. ThemFromSpace 04:45, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

I've been looking over these and have found a fair bit of coverage, and im my opinion enough to satisfy WP:N, although the articles are way too long and detailed as they are. I've been thinking that the best solution might be to merge the games into the Playgen article, what do you think? Smartse (talk) 21:01, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't think any such discussion belongs here at this point, since there is an AfD open for each article. You might want to make your suggestions there. -- Atama頭 21:14, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

User:IgniteTheMind

This editor added material to the article subliminal stimuli praising a particular movie as "categorically exploring" the subject matter. In posting to my talk page in defense of her/his additions' contents and tone, the phrase "Dr. Taylor was interviewed for our film" caught my eye. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:06, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

It should be noted that the film being pushed (Programming the Nation) is created by writer/producer/director/editor Jeff Warrick of Ignite Productions LLC, whose YouTube handle seems to be Ignite the Mind. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:18, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

With all due respect to "Orangemike" - I don't see how using the term "categorically exploring" regarding a documentary film that is broken down into specific "chapters" or "sub-topics" on the subject is in any way related to "praising" the film. --IgniteTheMind (talk) 18:48, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

What about your pluralisation? Wikipedia accounts are tied to one person and one person only. --Thejadefalcon^{Sing your song}_{The bird's seeds} 18:55, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Meh, I use pluralization all the time (for example, I'll say "we" when I'm talking about the Wikipedia community). It's not in itself something I generally worry about. But the combination of factors here lead me to agree that there is a conflict of interest, note also that IgniteTheMind didn't even address the COI, but merely objected to the idea that the film was "praised". And I actually agree with them, I don't see the text as particularly promotional, but I still think that inserting that blurb about the film was meant to promote it simply by mentioning it. Reverting it was a good move. -- Atama頭 19:46, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

StrategiCom

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

Several anon IP users have been adding back in previously removed promotional material and removing the advert tag. All are in the same city as this company and most have made no other edits. The company itself is in the "Brand Consulting" business. My attempts to engage the editors have failed. Given the nature of the edits I suspect these are employees of the company. Rees11 (talk) 14:22, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

What a mess. There are a number of SPAs working that article, not all anonymous. SCom09 is a pretty blatant example, and Nebulous09, Sitikchai, and Siesta 06 are either socks or related SPAs. The article was also created by an SPA. The article, essentially, appears to be a product of the company. The company does seem notable, however, so deleting the article would be inappropriate, but keeping the article neutral can be difficult I'm sure. I don't think there's quite enough consistent disruption to warrant semi-protection at this time, and to be honest not all of the edits are bad, these COI SPAs and IPs are adding some decent content alongside the promotional stuff. -- Atama頭 17:51, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Super Hero Squad

Marvel Super Hero Squad (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) - The7thCynic and his anonymous persona 71.199.246.246 have already been reported, and threatened with blacklisting, for his efforts to keep a message board he admins in the external links. After the page was protected, he went away, but now he's back again. Alowishous (talk) 03:15, 18 December 2009 (UTC)Alowishous (talk) 03:16, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

This was previously discussed here a couple of months ago. In my opinion, whether or not there is a COI (its not immediately apparent) is irrelevant as the link is inappropriate per WP:ELNO. If someone consistently adds the same link after being warned then they could be blocked for spamming and the website could be blacklisted. Hopefully The7thCynic will realise that they can't add their link to the article and there won't be any further problems. Smartse (talk) 11:41, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Having read the WP:ELNO in detail, i do not believe the link is at all inappropriate. Firstly, I suggest that nothing on there is listed as a hard-fast rule. In fact, it uses the word 'normally', as to imply possibly exceptions. And although it is a link to a forum, considering it DOES "provide a unique resource beyond what the article would contain" AND "contain neutral and accurate material that cannot be integrated into the Wikipedia article due to copyright issues" (listed under Sites to Include) it should fall under that exception. Also consider - as I mentioned before but got misconstrewed as an attack - Wikis common sense:

"...Being too wrapped up in rules can cause loss of perspective, so there are times when it is better to ignore a rule. Even if a contribution "violates" the precise wording of a rule, it might still be a good contribution. Similarly, just because something is not forbidden in a written document, that doesn't mean it's a good idea. The principle of the rules is more important than the letter."

And under that, not only do I suggest the Hasbor Heroes link remain, but also the others that were removed as they are all VERY informative and offer much more up to date and detailed information that can be found here.

There was also an idea that a consenus was made - but I disagree. Those that added the various links back to the page throughout the months obviously considered them useful, even though they might never comment on the talk page. But if all it requires is a consensus to keep the link, I'm sure we can find more than enough people that believe the link(s) should stay.

I would ALSO like to add that it is apparent that the decision to remove the links was based off of a 'resolution' or 'compromise' to the above mentioned 'edit-war' rather than the enforcing of any rules. This 'resolution' was made here by Cameron Scott and conflicts with the rationalion given for the removal of the links.

On a side note, a while back the link was in question (and removed) because registration was required. Shortly afterwards, it was changed to NOT require registration and and the link was determined to be acceptable. Now, years later, after the so-called 'edit war' (which I was NOT a part of - as I only ever added links back, never removed any), apparently its not anymore.

Personally, it seems like a witchhunt OR power hungry editors whose answer to a resolution is the deletion of all.--The7thCynic (talk) 17:37, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Let's be clear about what the problems are here, The7thCynic.

• Ignore All Rules is a critical part of Wikipedia, but misused often, and I believe you are misusing it now. It does not mean that the rules should just be ignored if they get in the way of something you want done. It means that the rules should be ignored if they get in the way of improving the encyclopedia, and/or they don't make sense in a particular case. Generally an appeal to IAR should be accompanied by a very persuasive argument as to why the rules should be ignored, while you've offered nothing except that your opinion is that the link (and others) are good, without anything to back that up.
• You have a clear conflict of interest. Your personal opinion is naturally colored by the fact that you are associated with the site that you want to have linked.
• Forums are very, very, very rarely linked to in any article. I understand that you probably don't have enough experience with various articles on Wikipedia, but it's an almost unheard of exception to allow a discussion forum as an external link. That is because as discussion forums, they offer almost nothing in terms of objective knowledge to an article subject. One of the very few exceptions I can think of would be in an article that is actually about a particularly notable forum, such as 4chan.

You are casually asking for people to make a rare exception to allow a link to a site where you have a clear conflict of interest, against prior discussion that agreed to not allow such, without any compelling reason to back up your request. I hope you see what the unlikelihood of that occurring might be. Also, attacking other editors ("power hungry editors") is more likely to result in sanctions against you, rather than to accomplish your goals, such confrontational attitudes are extremely counter-productive. -- Atama頭 20:24, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Just to add 2 cents... putting the links back IS part of the edit war. There's already been lots of talk about how just because something was done in the past doesn't mean it's right. The links are good, but Wikipedia's not a directory or promotional tool. I can google about a dozen pages on super hero squad but that doesn't mean they should all be included. Look at the Spider-Man page and see that it's got 6 external links and 3 are to Marvel's own sites. There are many more sites out there that talk about Spider-Man, including major ones like Spider-Fan, but don't get included just because they're on topic. And continuing to say that everyone that disagrees with you is power hungry, on a witchhunt, stubborn or stupid doesn't help. It's not persecution, it's trying to apply a consistent standard over Wikipedia. Two cents.Alowishous (talk) 02:44, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

OK, lets deal with one issue at a time.

• COI - I can see where it may appear that there is a conflict, but I assure you there is none. We do not sell anything. We are not worried about members. We are a simply a resource, and specifically for the subject of this page. Some would even say the best resource. And we work with many that edit this article. We work hand in hand with the article as a database. All the links in question do. And unlike the Spider-Man reference, I would argue with Alowishous that you cannot just Google 'super hero squad' and get a dozen pages of useful information. In fact, we could say that information is sparse, thus making these links available even more crucial.

But back to the COI, I can see this is a clear point of contention for you - as it is your main emphasis throughout. But I can easily solve this matter by abandoning that the specific forum I'm associated with get added - though will continue to argue that the others be added back regardless. (Will THAT then be enough to move on from the concept of COI that has apparently clouded much of your opinion of me or for the principle I stand for?)

• Ignore All Rules or Common Sense - The assumption here is that I only request an exception because it's something I want done - which is preposterous. (But I suppose that opinion is based on your belief that there's a COI.) The inclusion of the links IS SOLELY for the improvement of the article as they provide MORE information and sources than the actual article itself, and I have stated so above, as well as stated before. But you suggest that I haven't backed up that statement, so I will humor you:

Consider that almost NONE of this article is sourced. Well, not only do those sites provide pictures and specific details on each and every figure, including articulation and repack/repaint information, but all of the information on the upcoming waves (which are listed here) are all sourced, unlike the article - where it is often suggested to be rumored and falsely removed.

Is that enough?

On a similar note...

• Forums being linked - In the same breath that it says forums should normally be avoided, it also mentions blogs and fansites. And yet I can show you dozens upon dozens of articles that include those - and probably rightfully so. This seems to me like picking and choosing. (And considering the moderating I am questioning here, it doesn't seem very fair to anyone.) But again, with so little information out about this toy line (even the official site is VERY incomplete in comparison to ANY of the links), these links are more than useful. (Is all that persuasive enough argument for common sense? Geeeeeeeez.)

• Edit War - Alowishous, perhaps you missed the start of all of this. Recap: Someone was removing the Rumorbuster link, then another person would come back and add it while deleting the Hasbro Heroes link at the same time, and vice versa. I was not one of those people. Although i would re-add the link, as it was apparently (at that time) done maliciously. So no, adding the link back was NOT part of the Edit War in question. Then as I mentioned, Cameron Scott, suggested that the 'compromise' would be to delete both - but it was never under the premise that it was breaking a rule. Not being part of the original Edit War, and as an observer, I have a problem with that type of moderating.

Speaking of, I also would like to point out how interesting it is that both of you bothered to mention my "power hungry editors" comment (which FYI wasn't a specific attack on anyone, just my observation - but would at best fit the above mentioned moderating - which is not cool) but neglected to comment on the fact that this all started as the lame 'resolution' to an edit war. --The7thCynic (talk) 03:57, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

User:Butlerwhite & User:Butlerwhite/ThatSexShop

Resolved

 – Page deleted. -- Atama頭 20:43, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

User:Butlerwhite/ThatSexShop (edit | [[Talk:User:Butlerwhite/ThatSexShop|talk]] | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views): Considering that the spammy userspace draft -- sitting there since 24 Sept -- says that the shop is owned by one "Butler White", I'd say that the COI is clear. --Calton | Talk 12:25, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

It looks like an abandoned draft. Perhaps WP:MfD it? --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 14:09, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I have created MfD. Johnuniq (talk) 07:29, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

WHDT and WHDT

WHDT (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) - User:WHDT, who claims to be WHDT's "Chief Engineer", keeps reverting to a highly dubious version of the article that claims, for example, that WHDT is broadcasting a signal (FCC reports as well as OR show it isn't), and that it is carried by (or recently that it has been ordered to be carried by, implying it is, with nothing showing it isn't) Dish Network. I'm not the only user who is seeing these claims as problematic, and User:WHDT has been told the COI nature of the edits are problematic. There has been one, short, exchange on the Talk: page but User:WHDT's responses both avoided the central specific issue (evidence that WHDT is actually on the air) and were, as with his reverts, "somewhat discourteous".

I'm sure User:WHDT has useful information he or she could add to the article, but at this point it appears, to me at any rate, that commercially WHDT has a fairly large interest in disguising the fact the channel doesn't broadcast an ATSC channel at this time in at least one of the areas it has a license, and is abusing Wikipedia to maintain this fiction.

At this point I'm giving up, I'm walking away from the article as I find monitoring and reverting extremely tedious and a waste of my time, but I'd appreciate someone who actually has the power to force WHDT to read the guidelines and stick to them could actually do so. 66.149.58.8 (talk) 13:30, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I've reported the username to WP:UAA as it looks like it is either a role account or someone claiming to be linked to WHDT. I agree that their edits are definitely of concern, thanks for posting. Smartse (talk) 16:13, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

They're been blocked because of their username, so the problem is slightly fixed but I guess that they will probably return with a different username. I'm not sure what else there is to do now as the article has already been fixed up by 66.149.58.8. I guess we wait and see, hoping that they will take note that their edits were inappropriate. Smartse (talk) 16:46, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for taking care of this. I do think the user could probably be a constructive participant (and has made some constructive edits in the past) so I'm not overly happy with having to bring this up. --66.149.58.8 (talk) 18:15, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Unfortunately while I said I'd walk away I made the mistake of checking the page again this evening, and he's back under a new nick doing the same stuff. Like I said, I'm going to try to walk away from this (I'm not going to sit here reverting his claims over and over again), but if someone could explain the WP:COI policy to him in a way he'll understand then I think it would be a good idea. I'm not sure what to do to fix the page, beyond possibly argue for its deletion. WHDT has one noteable aspect, it was supposedly the US's first commercial digital station, but otherwise it really hasn't done much of note and would normally be a footnote in, say, an article about the history of digital television in the US. --66.149.58.8 (talk) 02:18, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

The new name is "Marksteiner", and the owner of the station is "Günter Marksteiner". The aggressive behavior of the editor as well as aggressive language on the talk page of the article are both very troubling. The article itself probably merits inclusion per WP:BCAST whether or not it was the first commercial digital station in the US. -- Atama頭 23:45, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Jenn Brown

Jenn Brown (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) Hi. It would be lovely if anybody who works COI issues wanted to add this article to their watchlists, because I think it's a trainwreck waiting to recur. It was listed at WP:CP for copyright problems, and in the course of cleaning it up I realized that the article has almost certainly been controlled since at least April 2009 by the subject or her agency, Berk Communications (see User talk:BerkCommunications; [1]). Mostly IP contributors have repeatedly pasted promotional material from her website and resisted efforts by outsiders to remove such encyclopedic text as "Brown has a carefree nature that entices viewers to follow her on her many bold and electrifying adventures." All of this has been wiped out by the copyvio cleanup, which removed the last 66 edits from the article (and I only added back content that seemed neutral and copyvio clear...which wasn't much), but this stealth advertising campaign had been conducted for months. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 14:01, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

The article has been properly sanitized. I wasn't sure what you were talking about until I looked at the deleted edits for the article (I'm glad I can do that kind of thing now). A definite problem, we have promotional conflicts of interest combined with a BLP and copyright violations. The promotional editing has been somewhat sporadic, with the latest occurring on December 4th, so it's difficult to justify protection at this point but if it resumes at a high volume then I'd recommend semiprotection (or do it myself). -- Atama頭 19:10, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

MondayMEDIA

MondayMEDIA (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) - This article was created by somebody with the username mondaymedia (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log). Furthermore, he or she has been active in creating links towards that article, and also external links towards MondayMEDIA's website on a number of pages. Some of it seems excessively promotional to my novice eyes, but I would appreciate some feedback in this. Grayfell (talk) 07:52, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Definitely promotional. User is blocked for username problem. There are only a few external links left and they are possibly ok, so I left them. Please report if process continues. Johnuniq (talk) 03:24, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Some of the added links are ok, some are spam. I removed a few. If anyone wants to go through the user contribs and check the rest that would be a good thing. Rees11 (talk) 13:40, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

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

In addition to the suggestive user name, this user has (I think) admitted to having a COI here: User talk:Rees11 "I added information about two audio CDs of lectures given by Aldous Huxley that are ... licensed from the Vedanta Society ... my own 40 year association with the Vedanta Society ..." I will point him to the COI guidelines. Rees11 (talk) 21:06, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

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

Since MondayMEDIA and JonMonday seem to be the same user (see User talk:Mondaymedia), and assuming JonMonday is Jon Monday, it looks like the user has also created an autobiography. Rees11 (talk) 21:20, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Paid Company Editing W. V. Grant Article

W. V. Grant (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) Earlier, an SPA Superedit09 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) removed quite a bit of negative information on the W. V. Grant article, including his arrested for tax evasion and a section of criticism. I reverted the removal of unsourced information, and commented on the talk page explaining. I also informed the editor about the conflict of interest policy, and advised him the best way to make changes on an article that you have a personal involvement with is to suggest them on the talk page, and gain consensus.

They've reverted [2], and responded. As per this edit [3], the editor admits they are with a company contacted by the subject to clean up their wikipedia article. Not only is the sourced tax evasion material gone, somehow the article doesn't even appear to be in the same font. I'm not even sure how that could happen.I'll be off and on wiki for the next few days, so I'm bringing it here for more eyes. Thanks in advance. Dayewalker (talk) 04:03, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

UPDATE: I just noticed their post on the talk page also contains a legal threat ("Legal action is prepared to be taken if this matter can not be resolved.") Since I set this off by reverting, if someone else would warn them, it would probably go over better. Dayewalker (talk) 04:22, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

• I left a separate warning, as the material they were introducing was unreferenced and inappropriate (whether or not there was a COI issue). I have not addressed the matter of a legal threat. hamiltonstone (talk) 04:31, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

I left an NLT message at User talk:Superedit09 and will notice any reply. Johnuniq (talk) 07:46, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

I wouldn't fall to hard for the claims of their not understanding what was going on. It's a bit odd that they'd use the full syntax of [[ and | tweaks in order to customize their signature on the article talk page. Actually I thought it was a different user that had posted first before. Not impossible but still an uncommon thing. I also worked backwards and saw a few sock-looking accounts (50/50 shot I'd say) but since it might take a few hours I'll have to do it this evening. Socks, but not co-op edits even if proven, so resolvable. Want to add a general note for anyone browsing-- the IP that swooped in with edits on some talk pages of persons involved here I can't see related in any way to this matter. It and another IP at roughly the same time were snapping onto edits that would have been directly off the top of the recent changes log and the new user log, and there happened to accidentally be a few crosses at the time... both have been blocked since. ♪ daTheisen(talk)

Oh, and ask the legal matters be stricken? It is far more a rant than any pointed threat so it's not terribly concerning to run off to ANI. They have their final warning so it's an obvious reporting next time. Has anyone actually made an attempt to talk to the user? Their posts on the article talk page are detailed and well-written, but it needs to be stated before any possible sanctions are given that almost every word of them are 100% contrary to Wikipedia policy. Especially the assertion of placing "right" information being okay without source if they know it's "right", and that it trumps "wrong" things with an infinite number of references. Guidelines and every other fiber of being in Wikipedia makes WP:PROVEIT very clear and a nice summary of WP:N, V and RS at the same time. Really nasty sense of WP:OWN too, with argument made based on length of time spent on writing about the person. Since I wasn't there to watch it develop, I'll leave it to any of the editors involved to decide a next action. It's possible to make a balanced article with such accounts... if they're willing to be cooperative. ♪ daTheisen(talk) 14:03, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

The standard action to clear legal threats has been taken; indefinite block until the threat is retracted. Until then this editor won't be causing any trouble under this account. -- Atama頭 19:11, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

User:Rick206/Dynamic Language

Rick206 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) - While seeking feedback for his work in progress, it was brought to Rick's attention that he had the same name as the Vice President of the company. This in turn sparked interest in a possible COI. Rick posted on my talk page and asked for help on the matter, and I came here to seek some more opinions in hopes that this matter is resolved peacefully and without bias. Airplaneman ^talk 17:28, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

I'd like to assume good faith, and if they claim to not be the same Rick as the VP of the company, I suppose that he isn't. Although as a resident of the greater Seattle area myself, I know that 206 happens to be the area code for Seattle, so the chosen username still screams COI to me; also, the personal way in which the article is written suggests an employee of the company or a person otherwise affiliated. I'm glad that the editor is communicative and shows a willingness to comply with our policies and guidelines, but the company just doesn't seem notable enough for inclusion in the first place. My suggestion to Rick is that if he is interested in editing Wikipedia that he find some other way to contribute. Someone who is communicative, polite, and has decent writing skills is a very welcome addition to the project and there are millions of articles that can use his help. -- Atama頭 19:20, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

User:Action grrl

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

Action grrl appears to be a single purpose account promoting the work of action movie director J.A. Steel. It appears they may also have strayed into copyright violation with Denizen (2010 film). Can someone please take a look? I don't have the time to get involved in another issue at the moment. Thanks. Delicious carbuncle (talk) 17:35, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

This is a tough one. I have a strong hunch as to the identity of the editor, but I care not to voice this to avoid outing them (her?). If my hunch is correct, there are some strong COI concerns with this editor, but absent any self-identification the best thing to do is assume that this is just a fan of Steel. The copyright concerns seem to have been addressed, and despite my initial impressions both the actress and the film seem to meet our notability guidelines. I'm not sure what is actionable, but the report itself is certainly warranted. -- Atama頭 21:26, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

The user has simply replaced one copyvio with another (see here) and is shining you on. Sorry, I just don't have the time to deal with slipperiness like this right now, but I will at least AfD the article. Delicious carbuncle (talk) 03:11, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for all of the help making the articles better, the guidance on links and the references (the copyright issue). It is a team effort and I appreciate the professionalism! :)

I am a fan of JA Steel, JD Disalvatore, Dreya Weber (A Marine Story) and other strong women in Film.

I am grateful to be a part of Wikipedia and welcome the feedback. Action grrl (talk) 01:27, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm glad that you've replied here, AG. I do have some suggestions to help you along at Wikipedia, take them or leave them as you like.

• If you do have some personal connection to anyone or anything you're editing about, that is not forbidden. We don't have hard-and-fast rules that prevent you from doing so. We're only trying to identify such connections to be "on the lookout" for deliberate promotion (which I don't think you've done) or unintentional bias (which anyone can do without meaning to).
• It's best to acknowledge such connections if you do have them. Doing so will help other editors know where you're coming from, and prevent people from assuming bad motives on your part if such connections are "revealed".
• YOU ARE NOT COMPELLED TO GIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION. I don't want to make that look like "shouting" but I wanted to make it very clear. You don't have to tell anyone who you are, or give any personal information you aren't comfortable with. We have policies against people who try to dig up personal info about editors, and I always suggest that people think twice before they volunteer it. There are a lot of dangerous people on the Web, and Wikipedia certainly has its share. Risking your personal safety for an encyclopedia is definitely not worth it.
• There are some indications that you might have a conflict of interest. Your edits are almost all related to JA Steel, her movies, and people associated with her movies (like Jessica Bair). That's not against the rules, or even discouraged; everyone is drawn to articles on subjects they're interested in (I know I am). But that still invites questions, if you can understand. In addition, you've stated on your user talk page that you actually spoke with J.A. Steel, which lends more weight to such suspicions. I only say this to explain why the COI concerns were raised in the first place, I don't see anything wrong with any of your edits myself.
• You have a lot of enthusiasm for the subjects you write about. That's a good thing, Wikipedia needs people who want to create and expand articles. Just be sure to not let that enthusiasm go too far, be sure to listen to criticism and concerns from other editors, and remember that everything here is a collaboration (not a solo project) and you'll be fine.

If you ever have questions please let me know, thank you. (Oh yeah, you might want to check out one or more Wikiprojects, where you can either ask for or give help, such as WP:FILM, WP:LGBT, or WP:ACTOR.)-- Atama頭 03:12, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Atama,

Thanks so much for the guidance and insight. I know most of the Lesbians in Hollywood that are in the entertainment industry. I've found that they are under-represented on Wikipedia, as they are in the film industry itself. I would like to continue to contribute edits and articles in this genre, that is indeed near and dear to my heart.

On my first article, I was criticized for not enough links coming into the article, so I tried to prevent that this time and apparently overdid it.

I have no intention to violate copyright, and edits are most helpful and welcome. It was my understanding that press releases are in public domain for adaptation in articles. Again, I welcome any input.

This has been quite an arduous experience, and I appreciate you taking the time to mentor me and collaborate in the spirit of Wikipedia.

Action grrl (talk) 06:23, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Atama,

Learning from my recent experiences, I proposed two articles on my talk page to a gentleman (Chris) in Germany who offered to assist me navigate Wikipedia and write articles better.

There is no article on one of the most loved and award winning Lesbian movies of all time, The Gymnast, staring Dreya Weber, who did the choreography for the artist Pink! at a recent award ceremony. I've asked for his thoughts on how to craft an article about this beloved movie of our community. The Gymnast at IMDb.

I would also like to do an article on the award-winning filmmaker Alexandra Kondracke, who is directing the new Girltrash!: All Night Long film and was a writer/producer for The L Word. She has a long career in Hollywood, but no Wikipedia article. Alexandra Kondracke at IMDb.

I would appreciate your help and collaboration, as you have time.

I know both Dreya and Alexandra in Hollywood, and am grateful for your guidance.

Thanks,

Action grrl (talk) 06:52, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Peter Maple

Peter Maple (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) - This article - largely advertising - is being edited by Maplep (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) who claims to be the subject, KewQuorum (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) who is providing citations to a website of the same name and JamesPeters1980 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) who is a single purpose account for this subject. Each have been warned about their conflict of interest, but continue to remove maintenance tags from the article, forming a false consensus on the talk page that, between them, they have solved the problems by providing links to blogs and LinkedIn and other unreliable sources. JamesPeters1980 (talk · contribs) and KewQuorum (talk · contribs) are pretty obviously the same user. ⬅ ⚠ Redvers dashing thru the snow ⚠ 14:32, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm opening up a sockpuppet investigation. I believe that the three editors here are the same person (who is probably Peter Maple, per Maplep who self-identified). Using three accounts to create a false consensus is a clear violation of WP:SOCK. The Peter Maple article itself does not seem to meet our inclusion guidelines, and should probably be deleted. -- Atama頭 20:50, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

The case is open at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/KewQuorum for anyone who wishes to comment. -- Atama頭 21:09, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Kripalu Center

Kripalu Center (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) - Article was originally an advertisement, IMO, and an interested editor fixed much of that. However, now it is slanted oddly: simple non-profit organization replaced with long negative-slant explanation... 2008 revenue being hammered into sentence 1, news that profits are off, news that staff are being cut, news that pay to executives is going up, news of scandals, award for "best spa" removed as minor and old. Editor appears intimately familiar with nicknames of staff, other detailed workings. I am withdrawing from the article, again, but I fear other eyes are needed on it as there have been fairly grave wp:BLP issues, and I don't feel I can contribute usefully at this time. One editor in a previous wp:NPOVN section I started disagreed with my interpretation of events, by the way, saying the article was reasonably neutral/balanced.- Sinneed 16:21, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm glad you brought this here, and I totally understand withdrawing from the article. Looking at the history of the article, and Calamitybrook's talk page, I see a long, drawn-out dispute between you two. The editor has had a turbulent past, judging from their talk page, and their continued involvement with the article should be questioned. Some of the arguments made by Calamitybrook on the article's talk page are troubling, such as the suggestion that notability should be based on how nice the center looks in the landscape(?!). -- Atama頭 21:42, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Indie Movies

• Indie Movies (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) - See archive. It's still going on. I'm going through and tagging them, but this is getting annoying now. --Thejadefalcon^{Sing your song}_{The bird's seeds} 16:59, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

• 70.147.45.179 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · filter log · WHOIS · RDNS · RBLs · http · block user · block log) - this IP has a very similar edit history to Indie Movies. Smartse (talk) 20:13, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

No one had given them a COI warning or drawn their attention to this or the previous thread. As Atama stated before it is a pretty clear case of self promotion. I would urge Indie Movies to desist from creating more articles about these non-notable films that are all produced and sold by Maverick Entertainment Group. I'm going to have to warn them and if it continues they could be blocked. Smartse (talk) 17:16, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

My apologies. I've only just discovered there was a COI template just now. I'll make sure to use that in the future. I will admit that some of the films I am unsure about tagging, say, this one for example. --Thejadefalcon^{Sing your song}_{The bird's seeds} 17:23, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

He's readded Natasha (film) and now just did the same with Bad Reputation (film) (another one I'm unsure about) and still doesn't understand that maybe having most of his articles be submitted for deletion and being discussed here means something is wrong. --Thejadefalcon^{Sing your song}_{The bird's seeds} 17:46, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

No worries about the lack of template, you should always notify someone if you post about them on a noticeboard though (Don't worry though as hardly anyone does, despite it being in the instructions at the top). I've checked the couple that I PRODed and none of them seemed to be notable as far as I could tell from a google news search. London Betty looks the same to be honest the number of google hits isn't the best indicator but there are only 3000 for ""london betty" film" so it doesn't look very notable. I've level 3 warned them as they've carried on despite being warned and being informed of this. Smartse (talk) 18:58, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I noticed that all the plot sections in the articles are copyvios of the webpages they reference too. Smartse (talk) 19:07, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I noticed that too (mentioned in the last thread as well), but I couldn't be bothered to do anything about it like you have. When I first encountered this user, I once tagged an article as G12 but it got declined because the person who came along didn't think it worthwhile to delete it because of it. Since there is no speedy deletion criteria for non-notable films (there really needs to be), I've had to resort to prodding. --Thejadefalcon^{Sing your song}_{The bird's seeds} 19:14, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I sort of dropped the ball on this. I planned on checking the articles against web sites to see if I could identify copyright violations; my gut tells me that much of the content in those articles was lifted either from some fan/review site, or an official site related to the films. Smartse has verified that much the material in these articles has been copied, but I think the best solution is a mass AfD. These articles are clearly related, created/expanded by the same person(s), and share the same issues. One advantage of AfD over PROD or CSD is that it inhibits recreation in ways that the other deletion methods don't; either the original AfD result must be overturned in WP:DRV or the recreated articles must differ significantly from the deleted versions and/or address the issues brought forth in the AfD discussion. -- Atama頭 20:37, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

No worries. I've started three AfDs for the ones which had the prod removed and, just to be on the safe side, an SPI. (sighs) Should I start working on AfDing all of the others, prod or not? I'll do them, since I'm the original reporter. --Thejadefalcon^{Sing your song}_{The bird's seeds} 20:50, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I saw the SPI while I was filing one for a different user on this page (see Peter Maples above), but I don't think that will go anywhere. Editing with multiple accounts isn't disallowed on the encyclopedia, on its own (though disclosing alternate accounts is strongly encouraged), and editing without being logged in is definitely allowed (people do it all the time by accident). Sockpuppetry is only actionable when you can also show violations related to the sockpuppetry. (Using a sock to edit while your main account is blocked, casting multiple votes in an AfD, pretending to form consensus among multiple editors, etc.) -- Atama頭 21:14, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

← I don't know... part of me thought that it was an attempt to cast suspicion off his main account. Right now, I'm either assuming bad faith or someone who doesn't pay attention that something is wrong with the pages, not sure which. Anyway, the first AfD has links to all the others now. --Thejadefalcon^{Sing your song}_{The bird's seeds} 00:46, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Head writer for BCBGMAXAZRIAGROUP creating and editing articles related to the company

See User:Acuffrose. This relates to the articles Max Azria and Lubov Azria and also to the copyvio problems, although they are not a matter for this page. I'll notify the editor and then I'm off to bed. Dougweller (talk) 22:19, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Not sure if this resolves the issue, but the articles have been deleted. -- Atama頭 02:44, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

User:William M. Connolley and Global Warming

William M. Connolley (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) has been accused (author Lawrence Solomon) of a conflict of interest for global warming and of creating systematic bias in Wikipedia to the effect of minimizing the Medieval Warm Period (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) to further an environmental agenda. The article states 5,428 articles could be involved.

For the record I have awarded WMC barnstars in 2006 for excellence in writing and maintaining science articles. I respect him. However, given the potential harm this should be treated seriously until demonstrated otherwise. - RoyBoy 00:18, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Note: I found this written by William M. Connolley discussing Lawrence Solomon and Energy Probe. - RoyBoy 01:46, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

He may have been so accused but the accusation is a ludicrous one. A conflict of interest means an incompatibility between the interests of an editor and those of developing a neutral, high quality encyclopaedia, and someone who is an expert in the field is certainly not thereby disqualified from helping improve articles - not even if they have known opinions. Making sure that the current state of climate science is accurately described is a service to the encyclopaedia, not something to be resisted. The limited extent to which William M. Connolley has a conflict of interest comes solely with matters related directly to the RealClimate blog at the time he was involved in it, and the British Antarctic Survey under similar restrictions. Sam Blacketer (talk) 00:23, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Doesn't the fact he is being paid by the Climate Research Unit to astroturf Wikipedia for the AGW POV pose a fiduciary conflict of interest with his role as editor here? I thought astroturfing was banned at Wikipedia?97.94.189.111 (talk) 08:22, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

No comment on the broader accusation, which I haven't looked at, but that Financial Post article is idiotic. It proceeds from the first principle that everything WMC does on Wikipedia is pushing a global warming-related agenda. The ~5,400 number is the total number of articles he has edited, the vast majority of which have nothing to do with global warming. "Over 2,000 Wikipedia contributors who ran afoul of him found themselves blocked from making further contributions." - most of them "ran afoul" of him by crossing the WP:3RR bright line on articles entirely unrelated to global warming. And so on. If there is a COI issue here, please present using actual evidence, rather than the kind of journalism that makes me embarrassed of my citizenship. Steve Smith (talk) 00:27, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Striking analysis. On the point of "present using actual evidence" would take a significant amount of time; and could be interpreted as cabal protectionism. Being correctly deliberative may not be a luxury we can afford. - RoyBoy 00:44, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

A chain of comments here may relate to this issue. 69.9.27.168 (talk) 01:21, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

To be scrupulously fair to Lawrence Solomon, the author of that piece, he is not a journalist but a writer and columnist and the piece in question is neither a news article nor investigative journalism, but an opinion column. This kind of writing sells papers, apparently. --TS 00:31, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

The COI accusation was made off-wiki, in an op-ed. I don't think that it's of concern. When an editor makes an appeal as to how WMC is in specific violation of our WP:COI guideline, that's when I would be concerned. And as Sam Blacketer has alluded to, experts editing articles related to their fields of expertise are specifically given allowance in our guideline (even encouraged, as they should be) and only when there is a personal conflict should the COI be looked at (such as the blog mentioned). -- Atama頭 00:35, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

The Post article (actually, a blog entry) is ludicrous. It appears that the right-wing blogosphere has gotten to be dumber than usual lately with respect to WMC; there are more detailed rebuttals at Talk:William Connolley#Solomon op-ed and Talk:William Connolley#Conflict of Interest. There really isn't any credible, evidence-based claim being made anywhere. The climate skeptics echo chamber is probably going to be repeating this nonsense, so administrators watching William Connolley (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) should be extra-vigilant for BLP problems over the next few weeks. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 00:39, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm not completely certain as to why this is even being brought up. Are you suggesting that because someone seems to be drumming up a controversy (citing 5k+ edits with nothing to prove that those where problematic edits) that WMC should be barred from the article or subject? This board is for noting/discussing when editors may be directly involved with the subject of the article(s) they are editing. If that's what you're suggesting, please be more clear. Honestly, I can't believe we're even taking the time to address these articles. Like Steve Smith noted, the edits they cite are everything WMC has ever done on WP and assume they were all POV pushing edits. They even site his deletions as an admin, deleting speedy deletion articles which have nothing to do with global warming or his POV. What a waste of time. OlYeller^Talktome 00:56, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Demonstrating how seriously we take alleged systematic bias is not a waste of time. A proper analysis should be done, and potential COI's on specific articles are possible. I sincerely hope such actions are unnecessary, but looking at the issue for a few minutes / hours and coming to a determination is a disservice to Wikipedia. - RoyBoy 01:02, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

You haven't stated what you want the community to actually do. Are you volunteering to do this "proper analysis"? --NeilN ^{talk to me} 01:12, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Royboy, I don't think that's going to happen. Nobody is going to go through WMC's entire edit history to dig up possible COI issues, nor should they. Especially not if the catalyst for this is some opinion piece on a web site. If you, or anyone else, has specific complaints then they should be made. Just like every noticeboard on Wikipedia, if there's a problem there should be diffs and specific examples to demonstrate the problem, not a general comment.

To completely contradict your original statement, I think this should not be treated seriously, not until demonstrated otherwise. -- Atama頭 01:21, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Understood, but if Wikipedia can be pro-active in any way I believe it would be to our credit. Removing the Solomon article from the Talk:William Connolley article is likely myopic. I will follow up on that talk page. - RoyBoy 01:34, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

The community can treat it seriously. As to an analysis I do not possess the tools to do that effectively / efficiently. We should provide more accurate numbers than those presented as a start. Perhaps even a "global warming" data dump of WMC edits may be appropriate? This would allow those who wish to contest COI edits to do so more quickly than standard Contrib scrolling. As issues are raised they can be addressed. - RoyBoy 01:26, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Sorry if this sounds flippant (but then again, it is), but have you considered putting all of William's edits into a zip file, posting it on a Russian ftp server, and posting at climateaudit that "A miracle has happened"? Let the sceptics do all the cherry picking... --TS 01:30, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Depends on the size of the zip file I suppose. Is there any way to do a decent filter of WMC edits within Wikipedia and/or with 3rd party tools / scripts? - RoyBoy 01:39, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Doable without such scripts. Do a search within article space only. Sort alphabetically by article name, then manually remove articles which clearly have naught to do with climate issues. 5000 edits takes you back to early 2007 -- which should furnish a sufficient sample to detect any problems. From the alpha list remaining, go through diffs sequentially (possibly examining edit summaries). Delete all which are clearly just vandalism reverts etc. Methodology is independent of who you are looking at, or what topics. Hope this helps. Collect (talk) 01:58, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Yes, lots of us are programmers with tools for doing just that kind of filtering. But what would we be searching for, and could it be expressed in terms of textual search terms? I suspect not. It strikes me that if there were any significant outstanding conflict of interest it would have been detected in one or other of the arbitration cases in which William M. Connolley has made an appearance.

It really would help if we knew what we were supposed to be looking for. --TS 01:50, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

I believe a dump as Collect describes would be okay. Trying to be clever could be problematic. - RoyBoy 02:12, 23 December 2009 (UTC) Though we should keep obvious vandalism, as that shows the reality of maintaining contested subjects. - RoyBoy 02:17, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

I hereby allege that RoyBoy has systematically attempted to bias over 16,000 Wikipedia articles related to atheism. He has deleted 129 pages, presumably because he didn't like their subjects. In total, he has blocked 611 editors who ran afoul of him; RoyBoy clearly disapproved of the arguments they made, and had them barred from contributing. (Counts.) Since we need to demonstrate that we take all allegations of systemic bias seriously, please, can someone begin the witch hunt investigation? Or do I have to repost this message in a blog before we get started?

Honestly, that's the level of credibility and accuracy that Solomon's op-ed has. Solomon apparently didn't look at WMC's edits, he just pulled the numbers out of an edit counter and assumed that every article WMC edited, every page WMC deleted, and every editor that WMC blocked was somehow related to climate change and somehow an abuse of WMC's editing/admin privileges. I believe that we should take credible accusations of systemic bias seriously, and I believe that if Solomon had even bothered to present a patina, a bare gloss of evidence in support of his claims we might have something to discuss. However, taking this factually-challenged op-ed seriously wouldn't demonstrate anything beyond that we're gullible idiots. RoyBoy, you're welcome to conduct your own investigation, but please don't bring this back to the community until you have something of substance. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 02:47, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

I agree my call to action is hasty, but I'm hesitant to allow the weakness, and ironic COI, of the accusation to allow relegation of the issue to talk pages alone. Also, I hope this isn't hinged just on the op-ed, but on any appearance of COI within the larger context of Climategate. If too much a reach, fine. But let it be said we looked at it in an official capacity and found it wanting. - RoyBoy 03:35, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Although any user is obviously free to satisfy themselves with their own investigation, accusations alone are just accusations. And the context is that the article is a wacky, paranoid opinion piece. It wouldn't surprise if its author were one of wikipedia's fringe [blocked] pov-pushers in the area, doing some venting [though now I am acting like the author]. Wiki has an expert user who edits in his area. And he is/was an admin. Big deal. If the author finds actual and specific CoI evidence about WC and the Holy Elders of Realclimate, he can submit it or publish it. Otherwise he shouldn't be allowed to waste our time like this. Deacon of Pndapetzim (Talk) 01:57, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

I would like assist the author, and anyone else, to find any COI. It could lead to a streamlined procedure to respond appropriately to future accusations of note. - RoyBoy 02:12, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

William Connolley has a close relationship with Michael Mann. William Connolley is removing information from Michael Mann's article that is potentially unsightful for Michael Mann. William Connolley has a COI with regards to this article per WP:COI specifically This section. I am sure it would be easy to find many more given his history. Arzel (talk) 04:25, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Investigating conflicts in Scientific opinion on climate change

This COI investigation should be taken seriously. I investigated this editor in relation to a NPOV dispute with regards to Scientific_opinion_on_climate_change for which he created. (Note: I have suffered two blocks (my only ones) and other confirmed harassment in attempting to work with this editor.) Here are my concerns.

1. SPECIFICALLY: The editor holds the Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change mission and interests clearly above those of WP:5.
2. The editor declared conflicted interest here [4] during an ArbCom run.
3. The editor aggressively first denies and then aggressively negates attempts to reach a NPOV. [5]
4. The COI may extend to other editors acting in cohesion for a conflicted mission counter to a NPOV. [6]
5. In addition, the editor may also be held accountable[7] for WP:BLP issues in List_of_scientists_opposing_the_mainstream_scientific_assessment_of_global_warming upon further archive investigation.

I have diffs from archived talk history in Scientific_opinion_on_climate_change to offer. Before proceeding (or taking abuse for conducting an investigation) does anyone else share these concerns to broaden the investigation scope? Zulu Papa 5 ☆ (talk) 03:56, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

ZP5, You have also first had a couple of polite warnings for borderline harrassing him, to be balanced and fair, and it did look like you started your type of harrassment long before the retaliatory complaints. It does look like an unsubstantiated witchhunt by you of him to me.--BozMo talk 06:38, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

It is not apparent how WMC's edits relate to the links which you have presented. I note that you have been blocked twice by other admins for your poor conduct ([8]), but WMC has apparently not used his admin tools. The links you have presented are confusing, at best. In #2, where you declare that WMC has indicated a conflict of interest, he apparently only states that he 'care[s] about' the issue of global warming. I presume that the same could be said for you. I've got better things to do than to try to parse the remainder of your compaint; can you provide a few diffs which clearly demonstrate the problem, or are you just grinding your own particular axe? TenOfAllTrades(talk) 05:24, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

User:Addvisors

Resolved

 – Blocked for spam/username violations. -- Atama頭 00:49, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Editors

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

Articles

• Andrew Sasson (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• The Harmon Hotel and Spa (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
• CityCenter (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

User:Addvisors recently created the article Andrew Sasson about a Las Vegas nightclub entrepreneur (said article is now listed at WP:Articles for deletion/Andrew Sasson). While researching the subject to try to improve the article, I ran across Addvisors, whose website says they are "a Las Vegas SEO and Google Qualified Adwords agency, specializing in online marketing." The website also says that their client, "The Light Group" (Sasson's company) has hired them to "generate more website traffic to increase and attract new clientele seeking VIP nightclub services, reservations, private parties, and table service in Las Vegas."

The user has also recently edited The Harmon Hotel and Spa and CityCenter, two other projects of The Light Group and Sasson. Dori ❦ (Talk ❖ Contribs ❖ Review) ❦ 00:15, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

I've indef-blocked as a spam username. The fact that they are hired to spam websites means that we can suspend good faith in their case. -- Atama頭 00:49, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the fast work! Dori ❦ (Talk ❖ Contribs ❖ Review) ❦ 03:40, 23 December 2009 (UTC)