Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Beckjord

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Case Opened on 01:12, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Case Closed on 05:57, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

Please do not edit this page directly unless you wish to become a participant in this request. (All participants are subject to Arbitration Committee decisions, and the ArbCom will consider each participant's role in the dispute.) 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 evidence and suggesting proposed decisions at /Workshop and voting on proposed decisions at /Proposed decision.

1 Involved parties
2 Statement by Android79
3 Statement by Bishonen
4 Statement by Bunchofgrapes
5 Statement by MONGO
6 Statement by DreamGuy
7 Statement by Gerald Hawkin, on behalf of Beckjord
8 Statement by Beckjord
9 Preliminary decisions
- 9.1 Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (9/0/0/0)
- 9.2 Temporary injunction (none)
10 Final decision

[edit] Involved parties

[edit] Statement by Android79

User:Beckjord has repeatedly tried to insert unverifiable original research into Bigfoot and other paranormal-related articles that matches his point of view. Beckjord, the editor, is none other than Erik Beckjord, described in that article as a "paranormal investigator". Beckjord contends that Bigfoot and other creatures such as the Loch Ness Monster may be aliens visiting Earth from another dimension by way of wormholes. Setting aside any questions about the veracity of these claims, it is sufficient to say that this is considered a fringe theory even among fringe theorists.

Beckjord has gone to great lengths to attempt to keep unsourced, non-neutral material in the article. He frequently engages in edit wars and has been blocked once for 3RR ([1]). For a short time, he posted a "call to arms" to visitors of his website to come to Wikipedia and aid him in repeatedly inserting the same material into Bigfoot [2]. Partly due to uproar on the Bigfoot talk page, and partly due to the fact that this tactic was ineffective (few people answered the call to arms, and those that did were quickly reverted) the notice on his website was taken down.

Beckjord is suspected of using multiple sockpuppets and anonymous accounts to push his agenda. Circumstantial evidence (highly distinctive editing style, article interest, variously having signed their different names to edits by the same IP address, and other behavior) have all but confirmed that 205.208.227.49 (talk • contribs) [3] [4] [5], DrJoe (talk • contribs) [6], Dr Joe (talk • contribs), Orphanannie (talk • contribs), and Luminary666 (talk • contribs) [7] are all Beckjord. It is also suspected that Beckjord has started using an AOL account to edit Wikipedia anonymously [8].

It is unknown if Beckjord understands (or has even read) Wikipedia's core policies on verifiability, original research, and point of view. Regardless, he denounces [9] them, calling for more "cutting edge" research to be added to Wikipedia [10]. He frequently adds unsourced or poorly-sourced material, often using his own website as a reference [11].

Beckjord also routinely engages in personal attacks, in the form of straight insults [12] [13] or attacks on the credibility of his opposition [14]. Editors who have chosen to remain anonymous are attacked as "cowards" for not revealing their real names or for offering their credentials [15]. Beckjord contends that, since he is the only editor who has chosen to reveal that he has real-world credentials on Bigfoot, he is the only editor with enough expertise to actually decide what belongs in the article.

Beckjord may have some worthwhile content to contribute to Bigfoot and other cryptozoology-related articles, and if he at some point decides to remain civil, stop using sockpuppets, and abide by WP:V, WP:NPOV, and WP:NOR, I will have no problem with his edits. However, so far he has shown neither the ability nor the inclination to do any of those things. android 79 23:06, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Addendum, 01:11, 24 January 2006 (UTC): Beckjord has recently posted [16] instructions on his website on how to revert to a preferred version of the Bigfoot article. android 79

[edit] Statement by Bishonen

It's been sad to watch User:Beckjord go from optimistic newbie to malcontent and sockpuppeteer, and recently mere vandal [17]. I wish this negative progression could have been avoided, but I can't see how, or that anybody here has been mean to him. He seemed at first full of hope of persuading Wikipedia to waive WP:NPOV and WP:NOR, policies that he despises, and is now bitter and incredulous that people just keep going on and on about them. His article edits are wildly and proudly POV, and he edit wars with great persistence over Bigfoot, and somewhat also Cryptozoology and his own bio. He has often declared that Wiki policy pages are too numerous and complicated [18] [19], and that it's pointless to read them anyway, as they're misguided and perverse [20]. You can see the frustration of those who have tried to direct him to policies, [21] [22] [23], [24], [25]or even simply show him how to format a talkpage heading, [26] [27]. all over the talkpages involved, especially User talk:Beckjord. These pages are made nightmarishly messy, originally merely by his lack of skill, but lately, I think, maliciously. (Now that B has turned puppeteer, some of his unique formatting habits confirm the identification of his sockpuppets — see his trademark top-level headings here.) He revels in repetitious personal attacks, sometimes jovial in tone [28], more often not [29] [30]. He targets especially User:DreamGuy, [31], [32], [33], who has put up with Beckjord's barrage a lot more patiently than I could, and has recently turned on Android79 ("This jerk moron is as bad as DreamGuy") [34]. Even though Beckjord's cryptozoological opinions are, er, non-mainstream, he might well have some worthwhile material to contribute, but it value is negated by his disruptive insistence on "owning" the articles and having them express his own views. Thereby he keeps lots of good contributors dishearteningly busy arguing with and reverting him and his socks, and he keeps the articles themselves in a miserable, battle-locked, low-quality state. I'm sorry to say this, but instead of a "contributor" to the encyclopedia, he's a mere drain on it. Bishonen | talk 23:14, 17 January 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Statement by Bunchofgrapes

Beckjord offers little but disdain for Wikipedia, and especially for polices critical in pseudoscience areas such as WP:V and WP:NOR. He rarely edits under his own account now, but his distinctively clumsy editing style make his ever-more abusive rants from anon and sock accounts very easy to identify. I would be very surprised to find that this edit [35] (with edit summary "jIMBO PORNO SEE GOOGLE UNDER WIKIPEDIA AND JIMBO - back each hr") was not him. —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 23:46, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Statement by MONGO

Beckjord appeared on my radar after seeing my watchlisted page on Bigfoot became much more active. I thought at first, he was just a new editor, with a strong stand that the evidence to prove the existence of Bigfoot was being suppressed. I even directed him to an unpublished source that may have been of interest to him. Later, I saw that the answers for him as to whether Bigfoot exists has almost nothing to do with science and everything to do with pseudoscience and completely hypothetical theories of interdimensionalism, shape shifting and an association with UFO's. [36] I am not familiar with his edits for the most part outside of the Bigfoot article, but his contributions, especially to the associated talk pages[37] and in others userspace [38], have become more farfetched and his personal attacks have gone well beyond what any editor needs to endure. The fact that numerous editors have tried patiently to direct to areas such as WP:NOR, WP:CITE, WP:V and of course WP:NPA seems to have had little effect on helping him improve his contributions. His usage of numerous accounts both logged in and anonymously is disheartening and has apparently been done to avoid WP:3RR and or to give the illusion that there are numerous editors that are in agreement with him. HIs use of profanity in his personal attacks are completely unacceptable. [39] However, I will admit that late in this game, I added unnecessary sarcasm to my edit summaries that may not have help calm him down. [40]--MONGO 02:53, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Beckjord has been notified and reminded at least twice by those involved here and his latest comment below seems to sum up his attitude which is repeated here.

[edit] Statement by DreamGuy

This really hasn't been a slow progression. Since Beckjord learned of Wikipedia he immediately came here to try to change Bigfoot and Erik Beckjord to fit his own views and to ignore our policies. See this link for a comment on Talk:Bigfoot on only his second day after registering, in which it is already clear that he knows about the policies on WP:NPOV and WP:NOR (as I had already explained them both to him as an anon IP before he registered) but simply refuses to follow them. Note already the clear attempt to drop self-promotional links to his own site. Furthermore, his first two edits on his stable IP address [41] and [42] clearly show his goals from the very beginning: self-promotion of himself as the only true expert on the topic and disdain for anyone who gets in his way. Note also that the article on him noted his previous use of sockpuppets, threatening emails and so forth on other sites prior to him showing up here. This is exactly the sort of situation where some policy or method to stop chronic POV pushing and self-promotion in its tracks would be extremely helpful. Of course the more recent transgressions of this user have been detailed above, but it's noteworthy, I think, that he's been a major problem from the start and that multiple experienced editors had to devote a large amount of time just to keep the articles in question mostly the same if not slightly improved while one dedicated new editor with a clear agenda time after time tried to convert it into his own personal soapbox and commercial. All too much of my time here, and I'm sure all the editors above would agree, is used up simply stopping the encyclopedia from getting much worse instead of doing anything to actually improve it. Without clear action here, and hopefully efforts to create policies to prevent these situations in the future, a great number of editors are reduced to mere janitors and members of a neighborhood watch instead of being editors. DreamGuy 09:42, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

As of Jan. 22, Beckjord's petty vandalism against editors he perceives as enemies is still ongoing. See the contributions of 172.137.247.247 where he edits the beckjord talk page with another false name (this time "jason"), saying comments beckjord normally makes, then goes to make a petty vandalism to User:Rhobite's page, reverts Jack the Ripper (a page he knows I am an active participant on) to a fairly old version but labels it "minor edit" and then goes and apparently does the same thing to Butter, which I remember Beckjord previously caused problems at because one of the other editors above was a contributor to. It's apparent that, despite claims of some that he is not solely here to cause problems, he is all too willing to vandalize pages in petty and bizarre ways to try to lash out against others. DreamGuy 08:08, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

And is currently editing under the sockpuppet User:Orphanannie. DreamGuy 08:21, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

His latest move: a page on his own website calling people to go to the Bigfoot page and edit it, See http://www.beckjord.com/bigfoot/wikipediabigfoot.html]

Note the part especially: "Anything by Bunchofgrapes, DreamGuy, Android79, Mongo and various others with login names is retarded, out of date trash, and if you like the Jan 23 4:57 version, you can click on it, view it, then click on tab "Edit this page", view it in html form, make any change you want, or none, and at bottom, write Minor edit in box, then click save." where he specifically suggests falsely marking major reverts as "minor edit".... which is exactly what he was doing on other articles like Butter and Jack the Ripper to try to get at the editors he doesn't like, as mentioned above. DreamGuy 01:35, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Statement by Gerald Hawkin, on behalf of Beckjord

Note: the following statement is by Gerald Hawkin (User:207.200.116.134), an outside party (and is supposedly not Beckjord himself). --DanielCD 22:42, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I've contacted him outside Wikipedia and he is of the opinion that this entire arbitration procedure is a huge farce and he really doesn't care what the committee does one way or the other. When people like Android79 are given any credeence whatever, the entire procedure loses all validity.

He does want to simply get some enlightened admin who is respected to make some simple and basic edits to the Bigfoot article, since it is not what he *says* that is judged, but it is the name he carries that is judged and instant reverts follow with no consideration of the __content__ of the edits he tried to make. However, an admin who has some philosophical background, such as DanielCD, might be able to insert a short paragraph in the Bigfoot article that can make a profound change in how READERS view this topic.

He says it is the old fashioned and almost comic book approach used in Wiki,has been "Is there a Bigfoot or is it a hoax?" and this ignores the possibility that a new life-form may be involved, by excluding it from the basic question.

The better question for an ARTICLE should be:

On the question of alleged hairy humanoids, does the evidence show they are 1) a hoax or error; 2) a zoological species of possible primate; 3) a life form outside of zoology that has special abilities that enable it to escape capture?

In the light of research by advanced theoretical physicists such as Dr.Micho Kaku, (CCNY,CUNY)("Parallel Wolrds") and Dr. Fred Allen Wolf ("Parallel Universes")as well as recent research evidence found by active researchers other than himself, this __restructuring__ of the basic article format question is justified.

Can an enlightened and intelligent ADMIN insert this change into the article?

Gerald Hawkin

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.200.116.134 (talk • contribs).

[edit] Statement by Beckjord

Have no idea what this is about nor how you do it.

It seems like a dream from "1984" combined with Franz Kafka. Look at all this junk above! You created a system right out of some absurd dream of "1984". It is a total absurd mess. A maze of garbage run by PEOPLE WITH NO NAMES. WAKE UP! Get real lives! Get A LIFE!

None of you can call me a vandal, since my edits to the Bigfoot page are not malicious. I often use a coffee house that has internet access, and meet there with other bigfoot fans in my group of investigators. What other people do or write on the same computer I often use, is their business and is not my doing. Legally, in a real court, not a kangaroo court, it is required to have a real person testify that one other person, was seen typing some kind of thing you did not like, because, as in the case of roommates 2,3,4,5,6,7 sharing the same computer, you have no evidence any one of them did anything actionable unless you have witness who watched them do it. Hundreds of people can share the same IP. Dozens can share the same computer.

As said before, this entire process is a farce, and has no merit nor validity. My goal on Wiki is to edit the Bigfoot and PG Film and other pages I am an expert on without UNQUALIFIED people gettng in the way. I do NOT allege these topics are "proven" but I discuss the evidence there is so far.

NOw get this: I've asked several admins and have made a general appeal for assistance in editing so I can supply items and referecnes and a partner can clean them up and make them Wiki-OK.

BOLD-- I HAVE NOT GOTTEN ONE RESPONSE --BOLD

All you people want to do is get some brownie points by "cleaning up" what you regard as illegal edits. Some of you BRAG about how you "fixed" this article or that. You are pedants, some of you are kids, most of you have no academic training, and none of you (except mindspillage) has even A REAL NAME! You simply do not exist.

All of you, or most, disgust me. You are here to "be somebody" even if anonymous. Absurd.

beckjordBeckjord 18:08, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Preliminary decisions

[edit] Arbitrators' opinion on hearing this matter (9/0/0/0)

Accept. I expect he'll sockpuppet if found against though - David Gerard 21:58, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
Accept. Mindspillage (spill yours?) 00:05, 20 January 2006 (UTC)
Accept Fred Bauder 01:56, 23 January 2006 (UTC)
Accept ➥the Epopt 04:19, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
Accept. —Matthew Brown (T:C) 05:19, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
Accept. Charles Matthews 11:22, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
Accept. Sam Korn ^(smoddy) 17:27, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
Accept. Jayjg ^(talk) 23:40, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
Accept. SimonP 21:07, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Temporary injunction (none)

[edit] Final decision

All numbering based on /Proposed decision (vote counts and comments are there as well)