By a Frustrated Wikipedia Editor

Dear Arbcom:

It’s been a couple of weeks since Wikipediocracy published what seemed to be a very convincing indictment of Wikipedia editor Tenebrae. Obviously, you are in a tricky position: Tenebrae is an editor who has been around for a very long time, and does a lot of work on BLPs. He has also spent 15 years promoting himself, his wife, his books, his employers, and, worst of all, businesses in which he has a financial interest. So, in hopes that it helps you to come to a decision, this is an open letter urging you to take action against Tenebrae — or clear the way for the community to do so.

The case may appear to hinge on Tenebrae being Newsday writer Frank Lovece. Thanks to the Daily Dot (with whom the primary author of the Wikipediocracy piece collaborated), we know that Lovece denies the identification. The connection between Lovece and Tenebrae is not quite an open secret, but it has been known and discussed on Wikipedia for at least a decade. Admins who are members of the oversight team are well aware of it, since just about every mention of Tenebrae and Lovece in the same discussion has been oversighted.

It’s really a moot point, though. For the sake of argument, let’s take Frank Lovece at his word when he states “I do not know anything about that.” This leaves us with an editor who isn’t Frank Lovece but, for unknown reasons, has been promoting Frank Lovece’s interests for years and is still doing it, as recently as a few days ago. In normal circumstances, this could be addressed on the Conflict of Interest Noticeboard, but again, it appears impossible to discuss the situation without being accused of “outing” and having the discussion oversighted. It feels rather Kafkaesque to be prevented from revealing an editor’s possible conflict of interest because their own edits might suggest that they are a particular person.

If the Arbitration Committee is unwilling to act — or feels that no ArbCom action is required — please let the community handle it. Allow a discussion of Tenebrae’s edits promoting Frank Lovece. Allow a long-overdue sockpuppetry investigation of Tenebrae, Hal Raglan, Skippu, JimCorrigan, 65.78.8.103, 207.237.230.157, 69.22.254.111, 207.237.223.118, and 24.199.120.207. It is not “outing.” It is not harassment. These are normal Wikipedia processes, being used for their intended purposes.

Please let the community deal with this case the way it would deal with any similar case.

Please note that the foregoing does not necessarily represent the feelings or wishes of the Wikipediocracy staff.