Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Gene Poole vs. Samboy

Case Closed as of January 1, 2005

Please do not edit this page directly if you are not a participant in this case. Comments are very welcome on the Talk page, and will be read, in full. Evidence, no matter who can provide it, is very welcome at /Evidence. Evidence is more useful than comments.

Arbitrators will be working on a proposed decision at /Proposed decision.

Statement of complaint

I, Sam Trenholme, along with other editors here at Wikipedia, formally make a complaint against Mr. George Curickshank a.k.a. "Gene Poole", who has a long history of violating Wikipedia standards that all upstanding editors at Wikipedia should be held to. In particular:

• Mr. George Cruickshank has used Wikipedia as a vehicle for advertising and self-promotion, in violation of item 18 on the page what Wikipedia is not. In particular, he uses Wikipedia to advertise his own micronation, Empire of Atlantium, by creating and editing the above page, and by editing other pages related to micronations in a manner so as to make his own micronation more significant, either by deleting links to competing micronations or by making micronations seem more important than they real are to the world at large.

• Mr. George Cruickshank has used Wikipedia as a battleground, in violation of item 23 on the page what Wikipedia is not. In particular, he has a long history of engaging in personal attacks against editors and in threatening editors who he disagress with, instead of handling disagreements in a civil manner.

• Mr. George Cruickshank has a long history of violating the three revert rule many times, even after being told of the three-revert rule by other editors.

• Mr. George Cruickshank uses a psudonym which sounds like a real name, and has a history of hiding his real name from other Wikipedia editors, which goes against the spirit of the policy of choosing a username.

• Mr. George Cruickshank has a history of ignoring or dismissing other editors when they attempt to explain to him that his actions go against Wikiquette.

In light of his actions, the following actions need to be taken against Mr. George Cruickshank in order to make Wikipedia a place where editors are comfortable making positivie contributions to this excellent encyclopedia:

• Mr. George Cruickshank needs to be barred from editing his own micronation, the page about micronations, and other pages concerning Micronations, including, but not limited to Sealand, Conch_Republic, and other micronation pages.

• Mr. George Cruickshank needs to be barred from using other Wikipedia entries in a manner that promotes his micronation or that promote the micronation movement in general.

• Mr. George Cruickshank needs to be barred from any and all personal attacks or intimations when disagreeing with other editors. He needs to learn to handle disagreements in a civil manner.

• Mr. George Cruickshank needs to be barred from reverting edits, due to his history of repeatably violating the three-revert rule.

• Mr. George Cruickshank needs to reveal his real identity on his user page, and no longer hide behind a psudonym.

It is only by imposing these sanctions against Mr. George Cruickshank that Wikipedia can become a pleasant place for other editors editing pages related to the micronation movement again. Samboy 21:44, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Original statement of complaint and heated discussion moved to Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Gene_Poole_vs._Samboy/Archive1.

Preliminary decision

Arbitrators' opinions on hearing this matter

1. Accept Fred Bauder 19:15, Sep 3, 2004 (UTC)
2. I hesitantly accept -- this case differs from the earlier request to arbitrate with Gene Poole, in that the evidence presented shows a history of conflict and multiple attempts to resolve the dispute. I would like to have a slightly clearer presentation of the allegations against Gene Poole (mostly the attempts to confront him about his behavior, as I think I see evidence of it but would like to feel more certain of them), but I'm willing to accept based on what I see presented. Jwrosenzweig 22:40, 3 Sep 2004 (UTC)
3. Accept. James F. (talk) 14:24, 4 Sep 2004 (UTC)
4. Accept. --the Epopt 00:44, 11 Sep 2004 (UTC)
5. Recuse -- I've been part of the Empire of Atlantium wars. --mav 02:57, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Final decision

Principles

proposed wording to be modified by Arbitrators and then voted on

1) Wikipedia is not a link repository See Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not

Accepted 7-0

2) Wikipedia is not a vehicle for advertising and self-promotion. See Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not

Accepted 7-0

3) No person or group has the right to control content of Wikipedia articles, See Wikipedia:Ownership of articles.

Accepted 6-0-1

4) Wikipedia is not a platform for Propaganda or advocacy of any kind, See Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not

Accepted 7-0

Findings of fact

1) User:Gene Poole is a Wikipedia user with an interest in micronations with a specific interest in the aspiring micronation of Empire of Atlantium, a political lobby group he is involved in.

Accepted 7-0

2) The article Empire of Atlantium was created by an anonymous editor 202.138.198.36 at 02:27, Dec 28, 2002, see original version of the article Empire of Atlantium

Accepted 7-0

3) The anonymous editor 202.138.198.36 made a number of edits to micronation and Empire of Atlantium until January 15, 2003 his last edit.

Accepted 7-0

4) User:Gene Poole began editing on January 15, 2003 with this initial post to his user page.

Accepted 7-0

5) Gene Poole is reasonably believed by other Wikipedia editors to be George Francis Cruickshank, also known as His Imperial Majesty George II, Imperator et Primus Inter Pares, Emperor of the Empire of Atlantium [1], a micronation.

Accepted 7-0

6) Gene Poole has in his edits to the articles Micronation and Empire of Atlantium acted to some extent as an advocate of micronations in general and of his own micronation, Atlantium, in particular to the extent of engaging in edit wars over their content.

Accepted 7-0

7) Due to his extensive knowledge of the subject, edits of Gene Poole have added signifcantly to the content of Wikipedia concerning micronations.

Accepted 7-0

Remedies

(None passed)

Enforcement

(None passed)