le 09 mai 2006

fortin tony mr le directeur de l’ens

45, rue d’ulm
75005 paris

objet : plagiat

cher monsieur,

après une série d’échanges infructueux avec nos premiers interlocuteurs, je tiens à
porter à votre connaissance les éléments suivants.

récemment, laurent trémel et moi-même sommes tombés sur la page internet d’un
séminaire organisé par votre école : « une e-ethnographie est-elle possible ? » (http://e-
seminaire.joueb.com/) dont les responsables sont mme florence weber et mr stéphane
béaud. nous avons été surpris de constater qu’une des contributions qu’elle contenait
intitulée « la pratique des jeux vidéo, perspectives sur l'idéologie libérale et le contrôle
social. » plagiait massivement et quasi-littéralement une de mes publications :
« l’idéologie des jeux vidéo » in santolaria n., trémel l., le grand jeu : débats autour de
quelques avatars médiatiques, paris, puf, 2004 (cf. annexe). le propos de l’article (les
univers virtuels comme moyens de « compensation » de situations sociales vécues
réellement) nous paraissait en outre très proche de celui développé par la thèse de laurent
trémel qui a fait l’objet d’une publication (jeux de rôles, jeux vidéo, multimédia : les
faiseurs de mondes, paris, puf, 2001).

divers échanges courriels avec mr xxxx, l’auteur de la contribution, ont porté à notre
connaissance le fait qu’une version de son travail (auquel a également participé xxxx)
avait été soumis au jury de l’association internationale de sociologie (ais) à l’occasion du
concours des « jeunes sociologues » permettant à leurs auteurs de remporter le troisième
prix. le texte publié sur le site du séminaire nous a été présenté par ses auteurs et les
responsables du séminaire comme un document publié par erreur. comment alors ne pas
soupçonner que la version soumise au concours inclue les éléments plagiés qui
constituent l’apport principal du travail ?

la conduite des intéressés qui ont usé à la fois du procédé de violence symbolique (remise
en cause des compétences intellectuelles notamment) et de manœuvres dilatoires diverses
et variées (suppression immédiate de l’article incriminé, droit de réponse tronqué et
réécrit, présentation de la paraphrase de mes propos comme une volonté manifeste de me
citer !) m’a profondément scandalisé. je souhaite donc enfin que l’ens assume clairement
sa responsabilité face à une entreprise qui m’a été foncièrement préjudiciable mais dont
elle aurait très bien pu tirer les fruits en d’autres circonstances.
je vous prie donc de me faire parvenir la version originale transmise au concours de l’ais
et de me faire connaître la réparation que vous entendez m’accorder au titre du préjudice
dont j’ai été victime.

dans l’attente de votre réponse, veuillez agréer, cher monsieur, l’expression de mes
sentiments distingués.

*************************************************************************************************************

date: mon, 3 jul 2006 12:42:44 +0200 (cest)

de: "tony fortin" > ajouter au carnet d'adressesajouter au carnet d'adresses
objet: plagiarism - urgent request
À:
cc:

dear mr. thompson,

to support the request laurent trémel which remained without continuation, i ask you to
communicate the authentified version of the article of xxxxx to me : “la pratique des jeux vidéo,
perspectives sur l'idéologie libérale et le contrôle social”, presented at the “fourth worldwide
competition for sociologists
junior” in may 2005.

i am the author of a paper (“l'idéologie des jeux vidéo” in santolaria n., trémel l., le grand jeu, puf,
2004) which was massively plagiarized by mr. xxxxx in a paper presented at the time of a
seminar of the ecole normale supérieure (ens) whom we took note in april 2006. it exists some
strong presumption so that this article is similar with the object of the competition, what have
probably justified its withdrawal of competition.

it is in your interest to communicate this article to me because the legal responsibility of your
organization can be committed.

i also wish to obtain your explanations about the disqualification of mr. xxxxx in order to consider
the actions pursuant which i will take to this case.

it is as desirable that association is in concordance with ethics which is promoted in its statutes
sincerely yours,

tony fortin

********

objet: re: plagiarism - urgent request

date: mon, 3 jul 2006 15:37:44 +0100
de: "k.a.thompson" < > ajouter au carnet d'adressesajouter au carnet d'adresses
À: "tony fortin
cc:

dear mr fortin,

i will forward your request to the executive committee of the

international sociological association. it alone has the authority to supply you
with the inofrmation you request. i am simply a professor who acted in
a voluntary capacity as co-ordinator of the competition for junior
sociologists. the paper was withdrawn from the competition and has not been
published by us.

yours sincerely,

professor kenneth thompson

******

date: tue, 11 jul 2006 16:22:01 +0200 (cest)

de: "tony fortin" > ajouter au carnet d'adressesajouter au carnet d'adresses
objet: re : re: ultimate request
À: "k.a.thompson"
dear mr. thompson,

i announce you that the article was scientifically validated by the jury of which you formed part
and that a mention of the prize awarded to mr. xxxx for his paper was made on the ais website for
long time, therefore made public. one cannot make as if it had occurred anything, it is thus not
non-event and for this reason, there can be legal responsibility. but most important is that you
don't respect the ethical code of the ais which is strict:

on the transmission of the document: information about sources and methods should be made
available within reasonable time. (3.5),

their diffusion, which is an implication of the fundamental right of people to be informed, should
not be hindered. researchers, however, should be aware of the dangers connected with
distortions, simplifications and manipulations of their own research material, which may occur in
the process of communication through individual or mass media. researchers should be able, and
are entitled, to intervene to correct any kind of misinterpretation or misuse of their work. (4.1)

on the respect of the intellectual property: sociologists are expected to protect the rights of their
students and clients (1.6),

data gathered in sociological research activities and research work constitute the intellectual
property of the researchers, who are in principle also entitled to copyright. should copyright be
vested in a sponsor or in an employer, researchers should be entitled to fair compensation (3.1)

lastly, paper was withdrawn after laurent trémel and me advertised mr. xxxx concerning
plagiarism in his article published on the site of the ens. we don't know why you withdrew this
article of the competition and we ask it to you. following the disqualification of mr.xxxx, in the
event of plagiarism of my paper, it would have been of your duty to contact me to inform you and
excuse you and/or offer a right of reply or an article or even a financial compensation, if one
wants to be in agreement with this ethical code, which is also a sign of respect and courtesy.

sincerely yours,

tony fortin

*****

objet: re: re : re: ultimate request

date: wed, 12 jul 2006 11:11:42 +0100
de: "k.a.thompson" < > ajouter au carnet d'adressesajouter au carnet d'adresses
À: "tony fortin"

dear mr fortin,

in order to make things clear to you and your colleague, let me briefly
inform you of the circumstances as far as they relate to the
competition which i co-ordinated:

the author(s) of the paper contacted me after the intitial judging of

the competition to inform me that their paper had been published on a
french website and that certain claims of plagiarism had then been made.
the author(s) said that the problem had arisen because, in their haste
to meet the competition deadline, the wrong version of their paper had
been mailed to me - one that did not contain all the necessary
references and citations of relevant authors and sources of data. they offered
to withdraw the paper from the competition. i suggested they first
check with the people who had charged plagiarism as to whether the
'corrected' version of the paper made sufficient attributions. they
subsequently responded that the accusers were not satisfied. i then accepted their
withdrawal of the paper. at which point the paper (in both versions)
was no longer our's (the international sociological association) to
distribute, but reverted to the authors. it was for this reasons that i
suggested you contact the authors for a copy. or, if a version had been
published on a website and you had read it there, you were free to pursue
the authors with your complaint on the basis of that published paper.

i intended no discourtesy to you or your colleague.

the exeutive committee will consider your request when it meets in a
few days time.

regards,
professor kenneth thompson

*****

date: mon, 7 aug 2006 09:20:33 +0200 (cest)

de: "tony fortin" > ajouter au carnet d'adressesajouter au carnet d'adresses
objet: case : plagiarism ec decision
À: k.a thompson
cc:
dear mr. thompson,

as promised, can you communicate the decision of the executive committee to me ?

sincerely yours,

tony fortin

*****

objet: re: case : plagiarism ec decision

date: mon, 7 aug 2006 10:45:03 +0100
de: "k.a.thompson" ajouter au carnet d'adressesajouter au carnet d'adresses
À: "tony fortin" <tonyfortin@yahoo.fr>
cc:

dear mr fortin,

i believe the executive committee decided to take no further action in

this case, having disqualified the paper when there was an accusation
of plagiarism and had it withdrawn from the competition. my personal
advice is that you take up your grievance with the person(s) you accuse of
plagiarising your work.

if you require more information you can contact ther executive

secretary of the international sociological association, izabela barlinska.

pleas feel free to pass this response on to your colleague.

sincerely,

kenneth thompson

ps. please note that i have retird from isa executive and have no
further responsibilitiy in this matter. i do not wish to receive any more
emails about it and will not respond again.