Wikipedia talk:Counter-Vandalism Unit

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Heavy vandalism in progress / Bobby Boulders

see International_Society_of_Vandals. Apparently numerous sockpuppets since they are not editing at the same time. SB_Johnny | talk 23:37, 29 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

He's back again... SB_Johnny | talk 17:01, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Current puppet is TheGreatLarryBirdJersey33. ((blatantvandal)) tag was removed by user.SB_Johnny | talk 17:03, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
He (Bobby Boulders) has been vandalizing on and off all day. He's also hit a number of other wikis, including Memory Alpha and the French Language Wikipedia. Suggest ArbCom hearing. Dr Chatterjee 21:06, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • im kind of new to the sock puppets and huge vandalism that he has been committing, what is arb.com?

--Sopranosmob781 21:08, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

ArbCom = Arbitration Committee. Dr Chatterjee 21:09, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, actually managed to figure out the ((sockpuppet|alias)) tag. Does that auto-inform an admin cabal, or does it have to be brought up to arbcom the "old fashioned way"? If it doesn't autoinform, it probably should (I noticed it does add to the category). SB_Johnny | talk 21:16, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Can anyone post more information about any patterns in his vandalism? --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs · e@ 21:13, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

(editconflict) Apparently they're edits to random articles, which he replaces or inserts with "This article has been liberated by..."
He's always kind enough to vandalize this page sooner or later, so we can track his edits down.SB_Johnny | talk 21:16, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
He seems to operate under the premise that Wikipedia is run by "fascist" administrators, and that this fact needs to be disruptively announced by blanking pages and replacing them with his manifesto. The manifesto incites other users to vandalism, and suggests that their actions (and his) are justified and "righteous." He has a very similar MO to that of the Communism Vandal, only his edits include a manifesto and essay he has authored. If anyone else can add some links or provide further clarification, please, help me out here. Dr Chatterjee 21:19, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I don't get the impression he's serious about the manifesto thing, really. Seems like a guy just engaging in his annoying favorite pasttime :). SB_Johnny | talk 21:21, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I dunno. Whether he's serious or not, the manifesto is pretty long (and surprisingly well written). It's pretty nonsensical, but I get the impression its author takes it at least somewhat seriously. Dr Chatterjee 21:22, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Also, apparently he has a history of adding hoax articles. His manifesto, and any sentiment behind it, probably stemmed from admins' constantly deleting his hoaxes or calling him out on them. Dr Chatterjee 21:24, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
One of the puppets added a hoax tag to an article earlier today...actually, that was it's first or second edit. Might be a new way of tracking him? SB_Johnny | talk 21:26, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Could be a good tracking method. He likes to create sockpuppets with similar names (i.e., BobbyBoulders23, BobbyBoulders24, BobbyBoulders25, etc.), which makes it fairly easy to track his work. On the rare occasion when he gets creative with a sockpuppet name, his edits are easy to track once his manifesto is spotted. Dr Chatterjee 21:28, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I've noticed that he usually starts by adding his manifesto to this page, and than quickly goes on vandalizing other pages, usually if you keep an eye on this page, you get a good idea when he is around, and can easily track his work and block his sockpuppets.

--Sopranosmob781 21:32, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

True. This page and Hezbollah seem to be frequent and primary targets. Dr Chatterjee 21:34, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've added a short WP:LTA entry about him and have added several of his favorite terms to User:Lupin/badwords. I've also reported the link to his Myspace page and his Yahoo! e-mail address to the Spam Blacklist, and have sent Myspace an e-mail requesting that his Myspace page (which promotes vandalism to Wikipedia and other Wikis) be shut down.--The Count of Monte Cristo Parley 21:54, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

He has a long and notorious career on hundreds of other wikis, as well. Perhaps a dedicated Long-Term Abuse sub-page is in order for him? Dr Chatterjee 21:57, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe so, though I have mixed feelings about it. Bobby seems to be a very attention-oriented vandal, so creating a page about him might be giving him the trophie he wants an may just encourage more vandalism. If a page is created about him, it should be kept simple and unglamourous.--The Count of Monte Cristo Parley 02:00, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Agreed to some extent, but I feel that a dedicated page about Bobby would do him more harm than benefit. For one thing, it would get his name out there among the Counter-Vandalism community, and would enable people to recognize him and respond much more quickly to his outbreaks. Also, given that his pattern is extremely recognizable, a page about him would serve to educate admins and counter-vandal users about his habits, MO, etc. I think it's warranted, and will do more good than harm in the long run. Dr Chatterjee 06:35, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have no programming knowledge, so I don't know if this is possible, but could a script or bot be written to search for text from his manifesto? That would help find articles he has "liberated," at least until he rewrites the manifesto. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs · e@ 03:32, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Tawker's bots are really good, maybe someone can try and contact him about this. --Sopranosmob781 03:59, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Just to note something I mentioned earlier, I've begun to wonder if Bobby Boulders is a new identity of Willy on Wheels. The two have many similarities.--The Count of Monte Cristo Parley 08:31, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have created a subpage on Bobby Boulders (WP:BOBBY). Feel free to update it as needed.--The Count of Monte Cristo Parley 09:16, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Added some info to the WP:BOBBY sub page. Also tagged a few Bobby sockpuppets that emerged (and were quickly blocked) earlier today. Dr Chatterjee 18:09, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is this vandalism?

Hello there! User:196.207.36.121 has been taking out what I consider to be legitimate facts from the 2006 Qana airstrike article, and labelling them as "propoganda." The problem is, some of what he is removing has been somewhat borderline, e.g. some light analysis, or repeating the reaction of various groups. I think it's vandalism, but I am hesitant to label it as such, and in any case I don't need a revert war. Can someone more knowledgable than me please comment? Would that user's contribs be considered vandalism? Or should I just AGF? --Jaysweet 20:50, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Another user apparently agrees with me, plus someone who I believe based on context to be the same individual is making accusations on my user page that he/she refuses to justify. Is this enough to report as vandalism and take action against? --Jaysweet 21:31, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism in Progress

I just reverted the vandalised page Anime. The vandal, 24.64.223.203, seems to have other uncorrected vandalisms, for example at Edward VIII of the United Kingdom which I did not revert. I have to get back to my day job and so can't go through his/her/its edits to see what else is still uncorrected. Someone should take this up. My apologies for not having time at the present. --128.125.196.55 21:09, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Checked it. Its a shared IP for Shaw Communications, all of the contribs I checked are good. Thanks for the heads-up though. CaptainVindaloo t c e 21:26, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

A Group to watch

Possibly sockpuppets, but more likely at least 2 users behind it. Check the "mischievious" commentors on Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Butlin... they've been uploading and replacing images on various article pages. SB_Johnny | talk 16:08, 1 August 2006 (UTC) (Oops, put this on WP:WPSPAM by accident... belongs here)[reply]

Stephen Colbert / Bobby Boulders Connection(?)

I'm hearing rumors that Stephen Colbert acknowledged, and possibly even stated his support for Bobby Boulders and/or his "International Society of Vandals" on a recent show. Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor's validity? If true, the attention no doubt emboldened Bobby, and we should be on the lookout for a heavy wave of Bobby-style vandalism soon. Dr Chatterjee 17:50, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

-Ive noticed while scrolling through some of the recent vandals that there have been alot of vandalism that has been trying to sneak through, with stuff about "elephants" like this one [[1]], I wonder if his show has led to this or if Bobby is behind these too. --Sopranosmob781 20:39, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I watch the Colbert Report quite often, though not religiously, and I have not heard him ever mention Bobby Boulders or Wikipedia vandalism. Was this recent? I should still have the last week or so of the Report still on my TiVo, so I can take a look when I get home.. --Jaysweet 20:51, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I have also heard that Colbert encouraged viewers to vandalize articles, specifically about elephants. This has shown up even on the Science Reference Desk. Also, this comment currently appears on Talk:Stephen Colbert: As of 31 JUL 2006, the article page associated with this talk page was featured on The Colbert Report, a popular television show. Also see THE NUMBER OF ELEPHANTS HAS TRIPLED IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS! --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs · e@ 20:58, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm an avid Colbert fan, and I haven't seen him say anything about approving Wikipedia edits aside from the elephant incident. EVula 21:10, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

List of The Colbert Report episodes notes that "Wikiality," which aired July 31, contained the exhortation to add false information to Wikipedia. There is nothing there about a Bobby Boulders connection. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs · e@ 21:32, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Here is an article about what happened: http://spring.newsvine.com/_news/2006/08/01/307864-stephen-colbert-causes-chaos-on-wikipedia-gets-blocked-from-site. - Akamad 21:57, 2 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
LOL! That's great! It would have been more fun if he was blocked while the final show was being taped :). Was it really Tawker, or was it Tawkerbot?
As the saying goes, any press is good press. I wonder how many people got on to experiment a bit, and discovered that anyone really can edit. I saw the elephant thing too on newpage patrol... was wondering what that was about. Makes you really appreciate the genius behind those friendly ((test)) tags. --SB_Johnny | talk 23:06, 4 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Bobby at Large Again (sigh)

Vandalizing the wiki templates this time around. Be on the lookout. Dr Chatterjee 17:08, 3 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I just had an idea! No, don't run away and hide! Can't the Tawkerbots be set to treat any mention of 'BOBBY BOULDERS' or 'INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF VANDALS' like any old swearword and revert it? (ignore me if this has already been done) CaptainVindaloo t c e 18:21, 3 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Location for IP#69.44.58.97

Copied from Wikipedia talk:WoW; posted by Firehawk1717:

I decided to go googling, and i found that one of Willy on Wheels suspected IP addresses (69.44.58.97) is near 5150 Broadway, San Antonio, Texas. Someone check it out, and we can get him arrested. Vandalism is a crime, you know. Thanks Centralops. And thanks Idea.nl (2nd link goes to translated version)

What do you make of it?--The Count of Monte Cristo Parley 20:24, 4 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Quick poll

If it's possible to do, should Willy (or Bobby, etc.) be arrested?

  • Oppose - He's not evil, he's just annoying. People shouldn't go to jail for being annoying. SB_Johnny | talk 23:09, 4 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose - There's a fairly famous quote that I'll paraphrase here: "You can't legislate stupidity." Online vandalism may be annoying, but as far as I know, there is no law against disruption or 'vandalism' of open-source web sites like the Wikis. Wikipedia pays a price for being openly editable by everyone, and that price is the Bobbies and Willies of the world. I'm not saying their actions are justified, but I don't see how their actions are illegal in the technical sense. Dr Chatterjee 23:52, 4 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Also, we need to keep in mind that not all instances of such vandals as Willy on Wheels are necessarily the work of the same individual. In the case of someone as long-term and as notorious as Willy, for example, it's almost a given that many of the edits attributed to Willy were the work of imitators or fans. There is really no good, reliable way to isolate widespread vandalism to any one person. Unless a vandal were stupid enough to edit from the same IP every time and never register an account, that is. Dr Chatterjee 23:58, 4 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, from what I've heard, the original Willy is from somewhere in England (and his grammer testifies to that). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Edmonde Dantes (talk • contribs)
What it comes down to is that there are just too many factors working against the prosecution of any Wikipedia vandal or group of vandals. For one, tracking down a vandal is frought with difficulties. Beyond that, finding concrete proof of their actions is equally difficult. And finally, there seems to be no legal precident that criminalizes Wikipedia vandalism in the first place. Wikipedia is open-sourced; it is the online equivalent of a giant chalk board. You can't arrest people for "vandalizing" the chalk board by writing on it with the chalk you provide them -- no matter how silly or offensive their writing may be. Dr Chatterjee 00:54, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
But we're not going to let him clean the erasers, of course (to extend the wonderful chalkboard analogy). They're really not doing any actual harm... it all gets reverted pretty quickly. Best approach in handling them is to keep your sense of humor, and enjoy the challenge of being in the CVU. --SB_Johnny | talk 01:08, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose As much as I'd love to see persistent vandals removed from the equation and/or society, this isn't 100% absolutely reliable. Add to that the fact that vandalizing Wikipedia, while obviously bad, isn't illegal. EVula 04:14, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Ongoing vandalism

A single user with puppets or possibly a group, see the this RfC. Apparently vandalizing Floral Park, New York, and Gang. --SB_Johnny | talk 01:29, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Tricky vandal... admin attention needed

Qmwnebrvtcyxuz (talk · contribs) has been removing markup tags from numerous articles (including an AfD article I was watching). Looked over his contribs, and several articles have been edited since, apparently not realizing the vandalism had occurred. SB_Johnny | talk 22:33, 5 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]


But I'm not a vandal

I made my first trivial edit a while back, happened to look for it and found that it's been reverted and marked as vandalism. What am I supposed to do? Just edit it back again? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Somerandomnerd (talk • contribs) .

I looked up your edit and it appears you changed a statement in a Star Wars article. You did not provide a reference for the statement, and probably another user incorrectly believed it was vandalism. It may help to know that that user failed to assume good faith. If you change it back, be sure to include a link to the source. Take a look at WP:V and WP:CITE and feel free to ask if you have any other questions. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs · e@ 23:00, 6 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Something interesting I've noticed about CapnCrack

Recently on the page about the vandal CapnCrack I posted a sentence which tried to explain his motive for vandalism (based on a post he made to the page himself). The sentence I added stated that he is gay and vandalises the page Oklahoma Christian University because it is intolerant of homosexuals (though the above edit only states that he dislikes the school's stance on homosexuality, not that he is gay himself). This vandal obviously dislikes being called "gay", as twice he has removed this sentence from the page (see [2] and [3]). Even though it isn't completely accurate, I am wondering if keeping that sentence on the page will be beneficial, as it will cause CapnCrack to spend his time removing it instead of vandalising elsewere. What do you think about this?--The Count of Monte Cristo Parley 03:44, 7 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Nah, on second thought, it might just encourage more vandalism, so I'm going to remove the part that says he's gay.--The Count of Monte Cristo Parley 01:02, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Um, why would that matter in the first place? SB_Johnny | talk 01:09, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Because he doesn't like being refered to as "gay".--The Count of Monte Cristo Parley 01:29, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe he isn't. I just don't see the relevance of a vandal's sexual preference. (Or pretty much anythng else about the vandal aside from their propensity for and method of vandalizing). --SB_Johnny | talk 01:43, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Two of several possibilities: Either he's gay but stating he is doesn't distract him from his vandalism; or he isn't, and stating he is incites him to more vandalism. Either way, I can't see that making unsourced statements, whether the vandal or any other reader would consider them positive, negative, or neutral, would necessarily be beneficial in terms of reducing vandalism. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs · e@ 03:58, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

So are you suggesting that we feed the vandal? Yanksox 05:48, 9 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Virtually unmonitored vandalism

Hello, CVU. I have an alarming request to make. The Image, Image talk, Portal, and Category namespaces are extremely underpatrolled (Img and Img talk especially). I frequently find that vandalism and general bad edits go unreverted for hours, days, or even months. This is one extreme example of uncaught bad edits, as far as duration is concerned (I realized that it was 3 months and not 7 months after I had edited). It is common to see more damaging vandalism and nonsense go unnoticed, to the point where it could damage Wikipedia's integrity if it gets into the wrong hands. I have my revert sprees every now and then, but I am only one person. I request that it be broadcast to RC patrollers to saturate these namespaces with checks for vandalism, nonsense, and bad editing. This is a good way to do it, but it doesn't catch everything. Thanks. —BazookaJoe 03:30, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I see what you mean... went through about 10 using link you provided, and 4 were vandalisms. I could clearly spend all day going through them, but I don't see it as a very high priority: it's primarily just silliness added to the image description, and so has little effect on a reader's experience of reading an article. --SB_Johnny | talk 18:15, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Suspicious IP

Based on this edit, I wonder if this IP might belong to Johnny Knight (see WP:LTA).--The Count of Monte Cristo Parley 17:37, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism by a CVU "member"

It's quite ridiculous that a vandal is a so-called "member" of the Counter-Vandalism Unit. Does he really believe that adding a {{User wikipedia/Counter Vandalism Unit}} tag gives him immunity? That user has a long history of vandal activities, mostly arbitrary reversion and deletion of articles which does not settle with his POV. Which is also quite ridiculous, as the user is also {{user NPOV}}...

More than 75% of the user "Contributions" are either POV or vandalism, or both. A few examples:

Sincerely,

– Fuzzy 18:53, 9 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
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