Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/DeFacto

DeFacto

DeFacto (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

Populated account categories: confirmed · suspected

For archived investigations, see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/DeFacto/Archive.

03 October 2014

– This SPI case is open.

Suspected sockpuppets

• ProProbly (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

• Jaggee (talk⁺ · tag · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · spi block · block log · CA · CheckUser(log) · investigate · cuwiki)

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• Editor interaction utility

DeFacto has a long history of emphasizing imperial units over metric in UK-related articles, and an extensive history of socking to do this. Initial edits of new account ProProbly focused on emphasizing metric over imperial for French articles (e.g., [1], [2]) with the novel rationale "to comply with the French tradition". Subsequent edits used that rationale to de-emphasize metric units at UK articles (e.g., [3], [4]), using advanced template options. These edits were reverted, which led to classic DeFacto complaints on user pages ([5], [6]), a conversation at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers ([7]) and a trip to ANI ([8], compare to [9]). Not bad for an account with all of 75 edits. Lesser Cartographies (talk) 03:19, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

I have suspected Jaggee of being a DeFacto SP since he started reverting my edits with the pretense of "restoring the English variety" (four such reverts in August). In fact, many of these reversions also had the effect of removing unit conversions (in one in particular case, the Unruh Effect, I had not actually changed any spellings because I replaced some unit names with symbols). This account’s only contribution since then has been to weigh in to the latest dispute with ProProbly, by reverting the attempts by Lesser Cartographies to undo ProProbly's reverts of my edits. Archon 2488 (talk) 12:31, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

Comments by other users

Accused parties may also comment/discuss in this section below. See Defending yourself against claims.

Agreed. The previous complaint against ProProbly ended with this comment: "Closing for now...if the case can be bolstered with new evidence then please refile." The edit history shows an obsession with putting imperial units first in British articles. Examples include this and this and this. I think that ProProbly has now provided enough evidence to cook his goose. Michael Glass (talk) 04:54, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

• Agreed. The pattern of behaviour exhibited by the user's contributions, including the diffs provided, and the user interaction timeline indicate quite clearly that this is DeFacto; presumably using the same "proxy" trick, so no need for Checkuser. --Boson (talk) 13:00, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

Admission by Jaggee

OK, I confess to it all, I am the DeFacto SP. How could I refute such skilfully assembled evidence against me. It was the way the filer so expertly juxtaposed the diffs of my work as Defacto with my work as Jaggee that clinched it I think. I realise it would be futile to try to argue with that. Damn my naiveness in believing I could go under the radar and get away with criticising the filer's expert edits and succinct edit summaries here and here correcting the ignorant spellings of a previous editor. Worse still, I made, what with hindsight was, the fatal error of criticising this edit, I should have been more respectful of the editor's right to drive a coach and horses through the WP:UNITS guidance to use miles for such distances in UK articles. The evidence against me is impeccable, Nice work!

Notes for the closing admin

• Please throw the book at me, I don't deserve my place here at the Wikipedia high table alongside such upstanding sock-busters as Lesser Cartographies and Archon 2488.
• As ProProbly is clearly merely another one of my socks, don't treat it too harshly, give it all to me - I'll take one for the two of us. Jaggee (talk) 18:43, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

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