Case Opened on 17:01, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

Case Closed on 17:06, 12 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.

Involved parties[edit]

Other involved administrators[edit]

(Please list yourselves if you feel you are a party)

Summary by complaining witness[edit]

Freestylefrappe has misused his administrator powers, threatened to use his administrator powers in efforts to intimidate other users, and behaved in violation of WP:CIVIL, WP:AGF, WP:BITE. He treats with contempt the attempts of others to explain Wikipedia policy, the role of Wikipedia administrators, or the problems of his own actions.

Location of original complaint[edit]

The original complaint which is lengthy and confused is at the top of Talk page.

Statement by SCZenz[edit]

This case is necessary because I, and several other administrators, believe that Freestylefrappe has exhibited a pattern of actions inappropriate for a Wikipedia administrator. There is currently an RfC on the subject, but it is quite muddled at this point, and has been treated with contempt by Freestylefrappe. I finally became convinced that continuing the RfC process was useless when, after I made a suggestion that he take the RfC as constructive criticism rather than Wikilawyering [1], he responded with an inappropriate (not to mention rude) use of a vandalism template [2].

Problems I see with Freestylefrappe's conduct include:

Biting the newbies by blocking new user without warning [3], even though that user had been trying to make constructive edits - see Special:Contributions/Stephenj
Misrepresentation of blocking policy and disinterest in following it [4], [5] (note incomplete quote), [6]
Assumptions of bad faith [7]
Removing comments from talk page with rude remark [8], and putting up a generally hostile notice afterwards [9]
Threatening to refactor his own RfC [10] and block other users involved in it [11]
Actually removing a Wikipedia policy from his own RfC [12]
Other threats with his admin powers, and assertion of the right to use them in conflicts he's involved in [13]

Since Freestylefrappe is unwilling to consider the comments made on his RfC [14], it's either ArbCom or dropping the matter completely. I think Wikipedia administrators should be held to a high standard, and Freestylefrappe's recent behavior falls far short of that. If he has no interest in listening to the comments of others, some other action has to be taken.

Statement by Freestylefrappe[edit]

I'll add more to this later, but right off the bat, I'm really getting tired of the harassment by users like SCZenz, BunchofGrapes, Karmafist, Redwolf, etc. I freely admit I dont take my RFC seriously at all. My RFA voting style is listed as an "outside view" on a meaningless dispute I had with a sockpuppet wielding vandal. All that the RFC is, is a bunch of users I annoyed 'cause I voted against their/their friends RFAs. I was blocked and accused of violating 3RR by Karmafist - which curiously is not listed as one of the policies I broke here - after I reverted what was clearly vandalism. This entire "dispute" is utter nonsense. freestylefrappe 17:46, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

All parties are not aware of this...or maybe they are..I'm not sure...they have a tendency to talk behind my back on obsure pages. freestylefrappe 18:12, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Time to disect the above mischaracterization.

If you click on [9] you'll see why I blocked StephenJ-which was a short block-and if he really was being constructive-which I seriously doubt, he could have contacted me through email and I would have unblocked him.
Number [10] is my opinion and since I rarely block anyone (maybe 20 or so anonymous users usually with short blocks since I've become an admin) you really need to get off my back about it
Number [11] is a quote from Wikipedia policy that I have discussed at length with Flcelloguy so I hardly see your point
Number [12] is once again my opinion whether you like it or not
Number [13] is number [12] again...perhaps you posted the wrong diff?
Number [14]....hahahah..SCZenz...please review Wikipedia policy...its not me who's embarassed by this diff and accusation
Number [15] was quite humorous and technically doesn't violate any Wikipedia policy
Figuring out the accusation associated with number [16] is a conundrum for me...perhaps he once again posted the wrong diff..?..:)
Number [17] pointed out that SCZenz violated WP:CIVIL. Then I explained how RFCs worked...I assumed good faith here though now I realize he was just violating policy. I believe later on he called that policy something along the lines of "laughable."
Number [18] was reverting a personal attack against me.
As for number 19...You all seem to still be in this fantasy land in which reverting is the only tactic I could have used to get the page version I wanted. Has it occured to any of you that I could have just protected the page after the first edit by Bitola? Why dont you just concede the block was wrong? By the way, Glenn, as noble a statement as that may be, its not a user's responsibility to go back and see if another user modified an RFC. So I really should revert all edits on the RFC to my last version. Ill refrain though. Its a testament to your misunderstanding of how an RFC and an Request for Arbitration works. freestylefrappe 18:12, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Additional statements[edit]

Statement by Karmafist[edit]

I stopped updating FSF's rfc awhile ago in the hope that he'd realize that he's his own worst enemy in this. Apparently he hasn't.
At this point, I don't think any of the admins care about his content in regards to Kumanovo (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views), which have been fine, but rather the way he has acted towards others in regards to that article and the following Rfc regarding him. He did violate 3RR awhile back, but as SCSenz said, that was piddling compared to what came afterwards, and ultimately it's a tragic case because unlike many of the cases you see where the defenders are just habitual trolls contributing nothing to the project, FSF is fine when he's isolated from everybody else. I think the best solution for FSF is no WP:RFA (his votes are Boothy-esque to say the least), no Kumanovo (he has serious Ownership issues there) and no talk pages other than his own for a certain period of time. karmafist 18:14, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Locke Cole[edit]

Other than endorsing views on his RfC, my involvement with this has been minimal. I do not believe it's appropriate for FSF to bring in everyone that was even remotely involved with his RfC, and I believe it is an attempt to divert the ArbCom from the real issues presented here. —Locke Cole 19:05, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Bunchofgrapes[edit]

Freestylefrappe

Calls many things "vandalism" which were not inarguably bad faith. (Example from this very RfA: [15])
Apparently stands by his opinion that blocking people who commit what he calls vandalism is appropriate without warning or discussion. ("Number [12]" in this diff, referring to this comment.)
Behaves petulantly and aggressively when attempts are made to discuss how administrators should best act. See almost any diff above.

I have also been accused of harassment in this matter, and I think SCZenz and karmafist have been accused of similar; I believe this is completely unfounded, and ask for evidence demonstrating this. —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 19:07, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Update - I find this exchange, in regards to my first bullet point above, illustrative of Freestylefrappe's indifference to or lack of understanding of WP:AGF: [16] [17] [18] —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 23:28, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by uninvolved party Dmcdevit[edit]

I had a disappointing encounter with Freestylefrappe months ago, and ended up blocking him for personal attacks. I continue to be mystified as to how he was ever adminned, or why he should continue to be one. About ten days ago, at Kumanovo, he was blocked for 3RR. During the course of that incident, he made various personal attacks. He also abused his admin tools repeatedly, by blocking the editor he was edit warring with [19], by using his administrative rollback in the edit war [20], by threatenting to protect his preferred version [21]. To top it off, he came back anonymously to continue editing, and the IP was blocked. Statements like these [22], [23], and his statement on this page demonstrate serious misunderstandings of how blocks and protection work. Combined with the other offenses cited above, this reaches the "pattern" threshhold, and I urge arbcom to consider Freestylefrappe's adminship. Dmcdevit·t 20:41, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by third party Flcelloguy[edit]

I don't really consider myself involved in this matter and wasn't going to give a statement, but I've been listed as one, so here goes:

I first became involved with Freestylefrappe after a post to WP:AN asking for assistance with the dispute. I read through a conversation between Freestylefrappe and SCZenz and decided to talk to Freestylefrappe [24] regarding his views on blocking without commenting on the specific situation brought up in the RfC. His reply was courteous and showed signs of wishing to improve. I also noted that day that Kumanovo had been undergoing an edit-war (see the history) in which he was involved, so I protected the page [25]. Freestylefrappe left a message on the talk page indicating that he didn't think protection was necessary; I asked for clarification. Later, Freestylefrappe unprotected with a summary of "not needed"; he had not (and still has not) responded on the talk page. I brought this to his attention [26], and he responded [27], telling me to "chillout". I replied to him [28], insisting that administrators should never unprotect a page they are involved in and then proceed to edit the page. Evilphoenix reiterated my point [29] later. Frestylefrappe did not reply to me after that. On December 22, though, Freestylefrappe removed many comments from his talk page, including our conversation, saying it was "too stupid for [him] to archive" [30]. That is the extent of my involvement in this case; I did not participate in the RfC and did not comment on the content dispute. I will be happy to answer any comments the ArbCom has. Thanks! Flcelloguy (A note?) 21:24, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Bitola[edit]

I already chronologically described the dispute between me and FSF at the RFC page.--Bitola 21:46, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by uninvolved party CBDunkerson[edit]

Some facts not mentioned or fully explained above.

The material FSF removed from the RfC was a policy citation added after votes had already been made endorsing the section it was being added to. FSF stated that he believed it was improper/misleading to retroactively insert accusations which were not present when the votes were cast.
Fred Bauder performed a sock check which determined that Bitola & Macedon5 were apparently the same user and that IPs User:62.162.226.197 & User:62.162.226.48 which took part in these events were from the same site, but did not exactly match Bitola's IP. Bitola later admitted editing from an IP while blocked, but suggested that Macedon5 was most likely a friend of his.
The '3RR violation' mentioned several times above, for which FSF was blocked, included reversion of this text, which was clearly taken from this external site. FSF was blocked for four reverts in 24 hours, but one of those included reversion of this external site material and thus FSF believes he was following WP:CV instructions to revert and did not violate 3RR.
FSF's block of Bitola was based on Bitola's repeated reversions to include the external site text listed above.
Contrary to some claims above, FSF has admitted to some mistakes in these events -> "I was uncivil" & endorsement of criticisms

Personal opinions: Freestylefrappe wasn't as familiar with admin procedures and standards as he should have been. One of the more bizarre aspects of these events was Locke Cole having to explain (very politely and decently) what a 'diff' was. FSF did 'bite' a newbie, act in a hostile manner, and make several mistakes in regards to policies and community standards. However, he wasn't the only one doing things like this and some of his mistakes have been misrepresented or unduly inflated. Efforts to 'get' him have taken precedence over efforts to help him become a better contributor/administrator. If he were running for admin today I wouldn't vote for him. I also wouldn't give him alot of grief about it. Mistakes happen - his were mostly based on lack of understanding, poor communication, and a rating of about six (out of ten) on the 'surliness scale'. He has shown some efforts towards improvement and that should be encouraged. Again, IMO only. --CBD _☎ ^✉ 01:06, 24 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Statement by Ral315[edit]

I didn't really want to get involved in this. All I did originally was file an outside view in the RFC against freestylefrappe, saying that I disagreed with his RFA voting. I was later added to this RFAr by freestylefrappe, which I originally withdrew from. However, recent events make me feel like I should say something.

After I posted the outside view, freestylefrappe posted this on my talk page:

Could you refer me to what policies I'm breaking? I'm a little confused on that...My vote on Lifeisunfair is 1. Completely legitimate given my reason and 2. partly a joke. Do you honestly believe that because of my voting style Lifeisunfair is not going to be promoted? Get off my back. freestylefrappe 12:00, 22 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't get the chance to respond to this (in fact, I never did respond to it.) However, I find the fact that freestylefrappe considers his vote both legitimate and a joke a bit odd. After being added to this RFAr, I withdrew from it. Tonight, I received the following note on my talk page:

"freestylefrappe's RFA voting is completely erratic and unfounded"

Refrain from such comments in the future or you will be blocked. You are not above the law. By the way, I have discussed LifeisUnfair's RFA with him and Matt Yeager, explained my concerns, and changed my vote. As for the other diffs you listed, all were genuine whether you like it or not. I suggest you review basic Wikipedia policy on RFA voting. Perhaps you are new to requests for adminship, but that doesnt excuse your conduct. freestylefrappe 05:31, 24 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I never said anything that I would consider close to a personal attack. All I said was that freestylefrappe's RFA voting was erratic (which, given the links I posted on the RFC, I could back up), and unfounded (which I believe was apparent.) Moreover, freestylefrappe's threat to block me for the comments is downright ludicrous, given that he was clearly an involved administrator whose block would not be in line with the blocking policy, just as I would not block him.

After reading this, I still was against joining this RFAr. I instead wished to leave a comment on freestylefrappe's talk page, explaining my views, and apologizing for any miscommunication that may have occurred during the incident. When I went to do so, I found freestylefrappe's talk page blank and protected. Sure, I could have easily edited the page, as an administrator. But the whole point of talk pages is that they're open to all. The only time talk pages are EVER protected is if they're frequently vandalized or edited by banned users; neither is the case here.

I post this not for vengeance, but because I truly think that freestylefrappe's conduct is a serious problem. For making a minor comment on his RFA voting, I received a series of increasingly threatening messages, none of which were warranted in my opinion. This is not the conduct that Wikipedia administrators should engage in.

Statement by Zocky[edit]

First, an aside: I don't see how the fact that those bringing this RFAr are administrators is relevant. But, to get to the point; I never noticed Freestylefrappe, until a few days ago, so I may as well provide the complete history of our communication:

I vote oppose on Izehar's RFA because of his involvement with the Brandt affair, and a lengthy discussion ensues between us[31]. Izehar later moves the discussion to that talk page [32].
Freestylefrappe votes on the RFA, accusing me of "having it in" for Izehar, and implying that I'm a "troll" [33]. This is the first time I ever remember noticing him.
Allowing for the possibility that he hadn't seen the discussion that had been moved, I leave a message on his talk page about the discussion and ask for clarifications [34].
Freestylefrappe deletes my and other messages from his talk page with the summary edit "to stupid for me to archive" [35].
I leave an outside view at his RFC, with the point that a newbie who blanked critical comments from their userpages would likely get blocked [36].
Freestylefrappe supports my view on the RFC [37] and leaves a {{test}} message on my talk page, in which he explains why my view is wrong [38].
Some debate ensues on the talk page [39] (after some moving from and to the project page).

Even after all that, I still didn't really care enough to bother with him any further. Wikipedia is a big place, and as said, I never saw him before and didn't expect to see him again. But after seeing the above example of newbie biting... well, excuse me, that's way over the line.

What I find really amazing in this whole story is Freestylefrappe's glaring incompetence. With some clicking through the newbie's contribs, Freestylefrappe could've easily established that he was trying to split info between two articles about his organization (that should've really been merged), neither of which he created. At least from the evidence anybody showed so far, that newbie was blocked for trying to help. That's completely unacceptable.

Apart from the hillarious accusation he made on his RFC's talk page, the funniest part of this epic is that although Freestylefrappe seems to care very much about who is and who isn't an admin, it apparently never occured to him to actually check. Since neither Ral315 nor myself advertise our admin status, he seems to have simply concluded that we're just more newbies to intimidate and potentially block.

All in all, Freestylefrappe's approach to Wikipedia seems to be a combination of arrogance, laziness and incompetence. I don't care what his sanctions are, I just want him to stop behaving that way on Wikipedia.

Statement by uninvolved party FCYTravis[edit]

My only opinion is that, whatever the issue, it is inappropriate for any Wikipedia admin to threaten 24-hour personal attack blocks for the heinous crime of calling their votes "Boothyesque" or "erratic." In my mind, those statements are an expressed opinion, not anything remotely resembling a personal attack. FCYTravis 22:06, 24 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Preliminary decisions[edit]

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

Accept - Newbie biting [40] is completely unacceptable behaviour for an admin to engage in. All admins make occasional mistakes of course. When these mistakes are pointed out by other admins they should be learned from not ignored, argued with or deleted. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 19:58, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Accept, what decided me was removing other users material from RfC. Fred Bauder 20:20, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Accept; some very disturbing allegations are made above and should be investigated in full. Kelly Martin (talk) 23:16, 23 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Accept ➥the Epopt 04:42, 24 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Accept. Mindspillage (spill yours?) 04:54, 24 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]
Unrecuse self from all pre-voting cases. Sam Korn ^(smoddy) 21:11, 23 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Accept/unrecuse self from this case. —Matthew Brown (T:C) 22:46, 24 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Unrecuse. - SimonP 16:29, 31 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Accept. Charles Matthews 11:56, 6 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Temporary injunction (none)[edit]

Final decision[edit]

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

Proposed principles[edit]

Administrators[edit]

1) Administrators of Wikipedia are trusted members of the community and are expected to follow Wikipedia policies. Their powers are to be used only for appropriate reasons, as set forth in those policies, and should never be used in disputes in which the administrator is involved. (See Wikipedia:Administrators.)