CZ:Citizendium Council proposed motions

See also: Decisions reached and motions passed

---

Motion on review of Citable Articles

Motion withdrawn

Motion Regarding Verification of Real Names

Proposed by Anthony.Sebastian, October 15, 2013.

Proposed Motion

• Citizens responsible for creating accounts for applicants to Citizendium will verify that the applicant is requesting an account using his or her real name. An effective methodology or methodologies for verification of applicants names will be established by the Citizendium Council as mandated by referendum #8 (Reform and Simplification of the Account Creation Process) passed in the July-August 2013 election.
• The page entitled CZ: Real names policy (Real names policy) will be amended to add the following paragraph: “To ensure that contributors, whether to Citizendium’s knowledge base or to administrative functions, have registered under their real names, the Citizendium will employ a real names verification methodology appropriate to the applicant and as foolproof as is practically possible.”
• In the section of CZ:Why Citizendium headered Real names are better, which currently reads:

“By requiring real names, we give both our articles and our community credibility: if you look at our recent changes page, you will see nothing but real names. Real names make it possible to enforce some modest, sensible rules, while Wikipedia's anonymity policy allows anyone who is slapped on the wrist to come back immediately under a new pseudonym. Citizendium has virtually no vandalism and little abuse of any kind. A community that asks its members to use their real names should be more pleasant and productive than one that allows abusive people to disrupt the community under the cloak of anonymity. We believe that in time, more and more people will come to see the merits of the Citizendium policy.”

• A paragraph will be added as follows: “To ensure that contributors, whether to Citizendium’s knowledge base or to administrative functions, have registered under their real names, the Citizendium will employ a real names verification methodology appropriate to the applicant and as foolproof as is practically possible.”

Amendments to the motion

[Insert text of amendments to the motion here]

Background

The Preamble of Citizendium’s charter states that contributors to Citizendium’s knowledge base contribute under their real names. It reads:

“The Citizendium is a collaborative effort to collect, structure, and cultivate knowledge and to render it conveniently accessible to the public for free. It is built by volunteers who contribute under their real names and agree to this social covenant centered around trust.”

Article 2 of the charter also indicates that contributors will have registered using their real names. It reads:

”Citizenship shall be open to anyone who fulfills the basic conditions for participation as defined by the Citizendium Council—including registering according to the real names policy—and agrees to abide by this Charter. ”

Interpretationn

Citizendium must verify that the requester is applying under his or her real name, otherwise Citizendium cannot ensure compliance with the Charter, namely that the registrant is using his or her real name, rather than a real-name-looking fake name. A real-name-looking fake name is no different from anonymity. Given the number of mischievous netizens that exist and operate, anonymity would render questionable the reputation of Citizendium.

Regarding pseudonyms, Citizendium does permit pseudonyms under rare and extraordinary circumstances. See: http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Special:RequestAccount

It can be concluded then that Citizendium must register applicants only if they register under their real name. However, there is no way without verification to know that the registrant applicant is submitting his or her real rather than a fake name that appears real. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the Citizendium must first verify that the applicant is applying under his or her real name.

In summary

Citizendium must verify that the requester is applying under his or her real name, otherwise Citizendium cannot ensure compliance with the Charter, namely that the registrant is using his or her real name, or a real-name-looking fake name. A real-name-looking fake name is no different from anonymity. Given the number of mischievous netizens that exist and operate, anonymity would render questionable the reputation of Citizendium.

Voting

Final vote:

Motion passed by majority vote [accept=4; reject=0; abstain=1; non-voters=2] Anthony.Sebastian 17:54, 26 October 2013 (UTC)

Accept

1. Anthony.Sebastian 20:21, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
2. Pat Palmer 14:48, 17 October 2013 (UTC)
3. Maria Cuervo 05:24, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
4. David MacQuigg 20:29, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

Abstain

Martin Wyatt

Discussion/Comment

Anthony.Sebastian

@Pat: we can pass this motion without changing the account request page. I believe we need this motion to clarify once and for all that we can only comply with the Charter mandate that contributors use their real names if we can verify that they are indeed using their real names and not a real-name-appearing fake name. Anthony.Sebastian 20:36, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

OK, good enough. I'll vote for it!Pat Palmer 14:48, 17 October 2013 (UTC)

Pat Palmer

I not sure that I really understand why this text needs to be added, so I'd be pleased to here more reasoning on that. Is there currently doubt that the CZ policy is to verify that names are real at registration time? I may vote for this, if others feel it is needful, with the caveat that I would not want to see it added to http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Special:RequestAccount, which we have tried to make simpler per the request at the most recent election. Adding this verbiage there would undo much of the simplification that I did recently.Pat Palmer 00:13, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

---

Proposed motion to appoint John Stephenson to the Constabulary

Proposed by Anthony.Sebastian 03:11, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Whereas the duties of the constables are many, including daily checks, and whereas at the present time (September-October 2013) Citizendium has only one Constable on active duty, namely Chief Constable, Matt Innis, and whereas sysop John Stephenson has been active and performing some of the duties of the Constabulary and has indicated his willingness to serve as a Constable, the Citizendium Council hereby request the Chief Constable to invest John Stephenson with the rights of a Constable and the means to exercise those rights.

Amendments to the proposed motion

Amended motion

Whereas the duties of the constables are many, including daily checks, and whereas at the present time (September-October 2013) Citizendium has only one Constable on active duty, namely Chief Constable, Matt Innis, and whereas sysop John Stephenson has been active and performing some of the duties of the Constabulary and has indicated his willingness to serve as a Constable, the Citizendium Council hereby appoints John Stephenson to the Constabulary and requests the Chief Constable to invest John Stephenson with the rights of a Constable and the means to exercise those rights.

Voting

Accept

1. Anthony.Sebastian 03:11, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
2. --Martin Wyatt 10:39, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
3. Pat Palmer 13:24, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
4. --David MacQuigg 16:53, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
5. --Maria Cuervo 22:48, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
6. D. Matt Innis 13:28, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Discussion/Comment

Anthony.Sebastian

Having worked with John Stephenson on the special election in July-August 2013, where John did all of the heavy lifting, and having worked with him on numerous projects requiring his abilities as sysop, I can attest to the dedication and competence of John Stephenson to serve as a Constable. Anthony.Sebastian 03:29, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Martin Wyatt

The Charter says that the Constables are appointed by the Council, so should not the word "appoint" be in the motion?