Gebruiker:ErikvanB/Milieulinkactivist

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Milieulinkactivist

aka Block-evading, Michigan-based global warming external link spammer

Modus operandi

Adds inline interwiki links (example), removes red links for no good reason (example), and spams links to external sites (example). The randomly added and removed links at first glance appear to serve as a smokescreen for a hidden agenda, i.e., to add genuinely relevant links in support of the user's POV on environmental issues, especially global warming. He rapidly edits one wiki after another, making it unlikely he knows the meaning of every word he is delinking (on the Chinese Wikipedia, for instance). But he has known for years red links should not be delinked just because they are red.

When approached, the user usually simply replies, "OK" (here or elsewhere). Another trick, it seems, is to obstruct and slow down discussions by pretending ignorance and causing confusion. A typical discussion goes something like this:

bitte beachte WP:VL insbesondere Wikipedia:VL#Verlinkung_zu_Seiten_au.C3.9Ferhalb_des_Artikelnamensraums Gruß--ot (Diskussion) 07:33, 12. Mär. 2013 (CET)

Und ... ? 99.181.138.86 07:39, 12. Mär. 2013 (CET)
"keine Links auf andere Namensräume, Diskussionsseiten oder anderssprachige Wikipedia-Artikel" steht da. Gruß--ot (Diskussion) 07:45, 12. Mär. 2013 (CET)
Wo? 99.181.138.86 07:48, 12. Mär. 2013 (CET)
da Wikipedia:VL#Verlinkung_zu_Seiten_au.C3.9Ferhalb_des_Artikelnamensraums--ot (Diskussion) 07:48, 12. Mär. 2013 (CET)
Fehler? Suggestion? 99.181.138.86 07:54, 12. Mär. 2013 (CET)

Sag was los ist- ich versteh dich nicht. Der hinweis oben ist eindeutig. Gruß--ot (Diskussion) 07:58, 12. Mär. 2013 (CET)

Do you know English? 99.181.138.86
are you able to read german?--ot (Diskussion) 08:12, 12. Mär. 2013 (CET)
only a little. I need help. long words ... (",) 99.181.138.86 08:14, 12. Mär. 2013 (CET)

This was his reply when I directly confronted him with his behaviour: "You know less than you imply. Wikipedia would be better served if you check resources."

Shows a keen interest in 350.org, Norman Myers, Bill McKibben and other topics related to global warming.

Detailed example

Over a 6-hour period, between 3 and 9 am on 8 March 2013, the user (99.181.146.69) made 164 edits on 45 wikis,

  • removing 92 internal links
  • adding 19
  • adding 17 inline interwiki links (plus 9 using the {{lien}} template on fr-wiki, which is permitted)
  • creating 4 pages with external links to an article about global warming (linkspam?): es, pt, ru, zh
  • adding The End of Power by Moisés Naím to 3 bibliographies
  • adding an ISBN number to the book Fight Global Warming Now by Bill McKibben
  • answering "OK" on his Portuguese talk page when being told to experiment in the sandbox after one of his edits (removing links) had been reverted
  • answering "Okay" on his German talk page when being told not to add inline interwiki links on de-wiki

The next day he reappeared as 99.181.155.16 and continued to add interwiki links to the German Wikipedia. When I reminded him of his promise to stop doing that, he justified his edits by saying it didn't seem like a German article would be created soon. Quote: "It would be best to have a german article, otherwise there is at least a wL. Or don't redlink it."

On the third day he continued spamming external links about global warming (here). When a bot removed these links, he put them back, blaming the revert on a "Faulty Bot" he wasn't able to contact and complaining it wasn't working correctly. He also kept on adding interwiki links, even on the German and Dutch Wikipedias in spite of our discussion.

External links on talk pages

These are often accompanied by the question "Add?". Below are some of the links added in February/March 2013, but the practice has been going on for much longer.

  • Link to article about dropping water levels in Lake Michigan: eo
  • Link to an article about the declining moose population in Minnesota due to climate change: nn, sah
  • Link to an article about the effects of global warming: es, pt, ru, zh

Other unusual behaviour

Findings elsewhere

On en-wiki, the user allegedly first operated from 97.87.29.188, registered to City of Kalamazoo (Michigan) Libraries, and then continued from other dynamic IPs after this IP was blocked due to a third party's actions.

A list of IP address is maintained by Arthur Rubin (giving rise to some provocative interactions: en and de, es, fr, pt)

IPs/socks (nl-wiki) and cross-wiki blocks

Ranges

Range ISP Location
97.87.29.128 - 97.87.29.191 City of Kalamazoo Libraries map
99.0.0.0 - 99.127.255.255 AT&T Internet Services / PPPoX Pool map
99.128.0.0 - 99.191.255.255 AT&T Internet Services / PPPoX Pool map
108.192.0.0 - 108.255.255.255 AT&T Internet Services / PPPoX Pool map
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