Don Murphy brings the Apocalypse! Options

[carbuncle]

After User:Erik added a picture to Don Murphy, the following note appeared on his talk page:

Don Murphy Photo
Dear Erik

Cropping a photo does not make it a derivative work. You do not have the copyright to that photo you inserted. You can avoid personal litigation by removing it within 48 hours. The Foundation cannot avoid it. Thank you. SharkJumper 15:44, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Enjoy WP while you still can!

Never mind - Apocalypse cancelled.

[Daniel Brandt]

Today I spoke with Erik Kraft for about 30 minutes. I left my telephone number on his answering machine yesterday and identified myself fully. Now he's back in Chicago. He says that he was tempted to not return my call (he's still getting harassing messages), but then considered my contributions to this thread and dialed my number. He said he did talk to the police. Now he's back in Chicago.

I'm more convinced than before that he's innocent, and I was thoroughly convinced before. Any strange behavior over the last few days (like deleting some of his web pages) was due to the fact that all hell broke loose when "Don" (no last name) called him. He said that Don's attitude was rather in-your-face (I find this believable), and Kraft had no idea who "Don" was at that time.

Initially Kraft had very little familiarity with Wikipedia and how it works, but he dove right in because he needed to find out what the hell was going on. Now he knows more about Wikipedia, but still seems unfamiliar with consulting a recent archive, or with researching edit histories. He has computer smarts, and I'm sure he will learn a lot more about navigating Wikipedia very quickly if he remains interested. At the moment he says he's jet-lagged (14 hours of travel) and is tempted to forget about the whole thing. I encouraged him to stick it out.

He said he'd be willing to talk to the press. I responded that we need to try and identify User:Erik first, because the press doesn't respond well to user names only. I mentioned Essjay and Seigenthaler, and the Essjay thing rang a bell slightly after I described it, but the Seigenthaler story was new for him. He clearly does not know a whole lot about Wikipedia, but he says he's learned a lot in the last few days.

He will probably be deleting more of his web pages. He is amazed by all the information that we dug up on him, and is now having second thoughts about his entire web presence. He said he just deleted his Facebook page.

Someone recommended to him that he contact Mike Godwin, and he said that he did this, and is waiting to hear back. I encouraged to him to pursue this and ask for User:Erik's checkuser data specifically. If he doesn't hear back, I recommended that he pay an attorney to send a formal request to Godwin.

I still feel that Murphy should do the same thing, and stop being so in-your-face, and stop insisting that the two Eriks are the same person. He should get his lawyer to send a formal, competent request to Godwin for User:Erik's checkuser data.

I asked Kraft if he had the sense that User:Erik was using him as a target of convenience, as in some sort of shield, in order to protect his own identity. He hadn't made up his mind on this, and hasn't had the chance to consider it. He mentioned that his girlfriend had been clicking around some, and she commented at one point that it was starting to look like a setup. He did express dismay that User:Erik has now disappeared, which leaves him (Kraft) hanging, unresolved and unsatisfied.
____________

As I see things, Murphy is at a fork in the road. For the first time he has strong standing for a formal request for checkuser data on User:Erik. If this is pursued in a professional manner (no insults, no swearing), Godwin will be on the spot. It's quite possible that pursuing this will not only produce the desired information, thereby giving us more clues for further research, but could also alert the cabal that now Murphy is a problem (i.e., more trouble than he's worth for a semi-notable BLP). This could eventually result in the deletion of his bio. If I had to describe my experience of how I got my page deleted in one sentence, then it would look like this: "Cabal to Wikipediots: Attention! This bio is not worth the trouble. Let it go."

At a minimum, obtaining User:Erik's checkuser data will scare the basement-dwellers, and they won't be messing with Murphy's bio in the future. You cannot out-troll a basement-dwelling Wikipediot teenager — there aren't enough hours in the day. Murphy comes close because he has his own forum and his own collection of teenage counter-trolls, but is this really what he wants? Does Murphy want to play Grand Anti-Wikipedia Counter-troll Master for a few more years, or does he want his bio deleted?

What is this anyway, a fuckin' movie? It's time for Murphy to decide, in my opinion.

[ColScott]

Today I spoke with Erik Kraft for about 30 minutes. I left my telephone number on his answering machine yesterday and identified myself fully. Now he's back in Chicago. He says that he was tempted to not return my call (he's still getting harassing messages), but then considered my contributions to this thread and dialed my number. He said he did talk to the police. Now he's back in Chicago.

I'm more convinced than before that he's innocent, and I was thoroughly convinced before. Any strange behavior over the last few days (like deleting some of his web pages) was due to the fact that all hell broke loose when "Don" (no last name) called him. He said that Don's attitude was rather in-your-face (I find this believable), and Kraft had no idea who "Don" was at that time.

Initially Kraft had very little familiarity with Wikipedia and how it works, but he dove right in because he needed to find out what the hell was going on. Now he knows more about Wikipedia, but still seems unfamiliar with consulting a recent archive, or with researching edit histories. He has computer smarts, and I'm sure he will learn a lot more about navigating Wikipedia very quickly if he remains interested. At the moment he says he's jet-lagged (14 hours of travel) and is tempted to forget about the whole thing. I encouraged him to stick it out.

He said he'd be willing to talk to the press. I responded that we need to try and identify User:Erik first, because the press doesn't respond well to user names only. I mentioned Essjay and Seigenthaler, and the Essjay thing rang a bell slightly after I described it, but the Seigenthaler story was new for him. He clearly does not know a whole lot about Wikipedia, but he says he's learned a lot in the last few days.

He will probably be deleting more of his web pages. He is amazed by all the information that we dug up on him, and is now having second thoughts about his entire web presence. He said he just deleted his Facebook page.

Someone recommended to him that he contact Mike Godwin, and he said that he did this, and is waiting to hear back. I encouraged to him to pursue this and ask for User:Erik's checkuser data specifically. If he doesn't hear back, I recommended that he pay an attorney to send a formal request to Godwin.

I still feel that Murphy should do the same thing, and stop being so in-your-face, and stop insisting that the two Eriks are the same person. He should get his lawyer to send a formal, competent request to Godwin for User:Erik's checkuser data.

I asked Kraft if he had the sense that User:Erik was using him as a target of convenience, as in some sort of shield, in order to protect his own identity. He hadn't made up his mind on this, and hasn't had the chance to consider it. He mentioned that his girlfriend had been clicking around some, and she commented at one point that it was starting to look like a setup. He did express dismay that User:Erik has now disappeared, which leaves him (Kraft) hanging, unresolved and unsatisfied.
____________

As I see things, Murphy is at a fork in the road. For the first time he has strong standing for a formal request for checkuser data on User:Erik. If this is pursued in a professional manner (no insults, no swearing), Godwin will be on the spot. It's quite possible that pursuing this will not only produce the desired information, thereby giving us more clues for further research, but could also alert the cabal that now Murphy is a problem (i.e., more trouble than he's worth for a semi-notable BLP). This could eventually result in the deletion of his bio. If I had to describe my experience of how I got my page deleted in one sentence, then it would look like this: "Cabal to Wikipediots: Attention! This bio is not worth the trouble. Let it go."

At a minimum, obtaining User:Erik's checkuser data will scare the basement-dwellers, and they won't be messing with Murphy's bio in the future. You cannot out-troll a basement-dwelling Wikipediot teenager — there aren't enough hours in the day. Murphy comes close because he has his own forum and his own collection of teenage counter-trolls, but is this really what he wants? Does Murphy want to play Grand Anti-Wikipedia Counter-troll Master for a few more years, or does he want his bio deleted?

What is this anyway, a fuckin' movie? It's time for Murphy to decide, in my opinion.

Not sure what to say. Among other things, I am certain he is not getting harassing phone calls. I am certain he didn't call the police. I am certain he has something to do with it.

But if I love your work as much as I profess, I should follow your lead. I want the bio deleted permanently. Tell me what to do. Contact Godwin? Great I'll do that now. What is the preferred method?