Motion to be made by the “Bring Your Own Book Group – Spotsw

Motion to be made by the “Bring
Your Own Book Group – Spotswood, NJ”<o:p></o:p>

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We request that this motion be
put before ALL groups within the Middlesex County Area of Narcotics Anonymous,
and if passed, be forwarded to the NJ Region of Narcotic Anonymous for a vote.<o:p></o:p>

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Motion:  The Middlesex County Area moves to direct the Narcotics
Anonymous World Service Office (NAWS) to make available the following pieces of
literature in their complete form available on the Narcotics Anonymous Website
(<span style="mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;color:black">http://www.na.org

</span></a>) for free:<o:p></o:p></p>

Narcotics
Anonymous Basic Text Sixth Edition<o:p></o:p>

It
Works:  How and Why<o:p></o:p>

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Intent:  To bring the practices regarding electronic production and
distribution of Narcotics Anonymous literature in line with our Twelve
Traditions and Twelve Concepts of Service<span style="font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:black"><o:p></o:p>

</span></u></b></p>

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Discussion:<o:p></o:p>

NAWS has, in the past, distributed
electronic versions of our Basic Text and “It Works:  How and Why” on the
Narcotics Anonymous website, free of charge.  <o:p></o:p>

Recently, these two pieces of
literature were removed from the website.  <o:p></o:p>

It was also recently announced
that Apple (iTunes) and Amazon were to be the exclusive distributors of our electronic
literature.<o:p></o:p>

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Tradition 1:  Our common
welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on NA unity.<o:p></o:p>

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By
requiring membership in third party organizations to gain access to our
electronic literature; NAWS has introduced disunity.  Those with memberships
(and who have agreed to Terms of Service) in third party organizations
will have the opportunity to buy electronic copies; those without membership
will not.<o:p></o:p>

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Tradition 2:  For our
group purpose there is but on ultimate authority – a loving God as He may
express Himself in our Group Conscience.  Our leaders are but trusted
servants; they do not govern.<o:p></o:p>

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The
decision to remove the Basic Text and “It Works:  How and Why” from the
Narcotics Anonymous website was never put before a Group Conscience.  It
was an arbitrary decision made as an exercise of authority or control
(ie:  governance, not service)<o:p></o:p>

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Dictionary
Definitions:<o:p></o:p>

Service:  An act of helpful activity<o:p></o:p>

dictionary.reference.com/browse/service?s=t <o:p></o:p>

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Governance:  An exercise of authority or control<o:p></o:p>

dictionary.reference.com/browse/governance?s=t <o:p></o:p>

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Tradition 5:  Each group
has but one primary purpose – to carry the message to the addict who still
suffers<o:p></o:p>

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Our
literature, is one of the most effective means of communicating the Narcotics
Anonymous message, that no addict seeking recovery need die from the horrors of
addiction and that recovery is possible.  <o:p></o:p>

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We
recognize that NA has an obligation to be fully self-supporting, and that the
sale of our literature is an important part of being self-supporting.  We
charge ourselves for physical copies of our literature in part to be
financially self-supporting and to cover the costs of production, warehousing
and distribution of our physical literature.<o:p></o:p>

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But the
costs associated with the production and distribution of our literature are
drastically different than their physical counterparts.  There is
effectively NO cost associated with the distribution of electronic versions of
our literature<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black">. 

</span> Costs of conversion to
electronic format have already been paid and recouped, as part of the
typesetting process for our physical literature.<o:p></o:p></p>

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When
making a decision between carrying the message and realizing a profit, we must
keep in mind the Fifth Tradition:  Our PRIMARY purpose is to carry the
message to the addict who still suffers.<o:p></o:p>

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Tradition 6:  An NA group
ought never endorse, finance or lend the NA name to any related facility or
outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property or prestige divert us from
our primary purpose.<o:p></o:p>

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Membership
in third party organizations is required in order to gain access to electronic
versions of the Basic Text and “It Works:  How and Why”<o:p></o:p>

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By naming
Apple and Amazon as our sole distributors of electronic versions of our
literature; we have endorsed Amazon and Apple.  <o:p></o:p>

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Tradition 7:  Every NA
group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.<o:p></o:p>

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Amazon
and Apple offer the same terms to those who wish to distribute their
works:  they RETAIN thirty percent of any sale and will PASS ON the
remaining seventy percent to the publisher/owner of the work.  This
is an outside contribution<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black">.<o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

This is
significantly different than the standard wholesale/retail arrangement, where
an entity (like a bookstore) will purchase items from NA (as allowed by the
Fellowship Intellectual Property Trust) and resell them.<o:p></o:p>

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Tradition 12:  Anonymity
is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place
principles before personalities.<o:p></o:p>

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Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions.  If
we abandon anonymity, we have abandoned ALL of our Traditions.  Some don’t mind these measures.  We ask that people
put the principle of anonymity (and the other principles laid out
in the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts) before their
personal wishes, needs or desires.<o:p></o:p>

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Amazon
and Apple have both invested billions of dollars in customer profiling and
recommendation engines.  They also own and participate in advertising
networks where customer browsing habits and purchase histories are available
for sale.  These are explicitly part of both company’s Terms of Service
and must be agreed to before anyone can make a purchase.  These are
acknowledged as part of the vendor agreements of both companies:  a
vendor (including NAWS) must acknowledge and agree to share purchase
information with Apple and Amazon in order to sell merchandise through those
organizations<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black">.

</span></u>  (see reference below)<o:p></o:p></p>

<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

By
entering into contracts with Apple and Amazon, the Narcotics Anonymous World
Service office has agreed to share purchase history information with Amazon and
Apple.  It has agreed, without benefit of a group conscience or
notification to the Fellowship, to abandon the principle of anonymity in
regards to the purchase of electronic copies of our literature.<o:p></o:p>

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This has
been acknowledged by NAWS in an email to one of our members by Steve Rauch from
NAWS:<o:p></o:p>

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<span style="color:black;
background:#F2F6F8">As you know, anytime someone is on the Internet they often
do unintentionally reveal details about themselves. We are hopeful that our
members remember this each time they go online. And as you noted, online
purchases can also create a “trail” of sorts. Since this is commonplace, those
who use the Internet are generally familiar with this data collection. They are
also generally aware of the advertising opportunities that marketers use as
individuals search for resources and move from site to site. We do not believe
these are reasons to not move forward with using these portals to distribute
our ePubs.

</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>

<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

As per
the New York Times, Amazon and Apple both work with the following companies,
who will resell purchase history information.  <o:p></o:p>

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Acxiom<o:p></o:p>

Epsilon<o:p></o:p>

CoreLogic<o:p></o:p>

DataLogix<o:p></o:p>

eBureau<o:p></o:p>

ID
Analytics<o:p></o:p>

Intelius<o:p></o:p>

Peekyou<o:p></o:p>

Rapleaf<o:p></o:p>

Recorded
Future<o:p></o:p>

<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

These
companies are currently under investigation by the United State
Federal Trade Commission (as of January 2013)<o:p></o:p>

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NY Times:
www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/technology/acxiom-the-quiet-giant-of-consumer-database-marketing.html.  <o:p></o:p>

ZDNet
(CBS Interactive): www.zdnet.com/ftc-takes-aim-at-data-brokers-7000009015/<o:p></o:p>

<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

According
to the New York Times:  ACXIOM’S Consumer Data Products Catalog offers
hundreds of details — called “elements” — that corporate clients can buy about individuals
or households, to augment their own marketing databases.
Companies can buy data to pinpoint households that are concerned, say, about
allergies, diabetes or “senior needs.” Also for sale is information on sizes of
home loans and household incomes.<o:p></o:p>

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In other
words, after browsing or purchasing the Basic Text from Amazon or iTunes, that
transaction is recorded, made available for sale and will become part of a
customer’s profile.  That profile will be available for sale to third
parties without notification<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black">.<o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

For
example, one of our members recently browsed (but did not buy) the electronic
version of the Basic Text Sixth Edition on amazon.com.  Since then, they
have been bombarded by advertising from Hazelton, Shelley Marshall and
Alcoholics Anonymous.  The ad impressions have been recorded and are also
available for sale (noted as a no-click)<o:p></o:p>

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Concept 2:  The final
responsibility and authority for NA services rests with the NA groups.<o:p></o:p>

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NAWS has
made a number of arbitrary decisions in regards to our electronic distribution
of literature:  <o:p></o:p>

<p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo1"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:Symbol;
color:black">·        
</span><!--[endif]-->Removal of that literature
from the Narcotics Anonymous website<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="ListParagraph" style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo1"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family:Symbol;
color:black">·        
</span><!--[endif]-->Naming third parties are our
exclusive distributors of those pieces of literature.<o:p></o:p></p>

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Concept 6:  Group
conscience is the spiritual means by which we invite a loving God to influence
our decisions.<o:p></o:p>

<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

These
decisions were never put to the Fellowship for a Group Conscience.<o:p></o:p>

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Concept 9:  All elements
of our service structure have the responsibility to carefully consider all
viewpoints in their decision-making processes.<o:p></o:p>

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Alternate
viewpoints were never gathered and thus not considered.  Decisions were
communicated and NAWS is not open to reconsidering them.<o:p></o:p>

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Concept 12:  In keeping
with the spiritual nature of Narcotics Anonymous, our structure should always
be one of service, never of government.<o:p></o:p>

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The
decisions made by NAWS were never put before the Fellowship.  Rather than
serving the needs of the Fellowship, NAWS has decided what will and will not be
allowed. They have entered into contractual obligations that sacrifice
anonymity and restrict access to literature without consultation with or
notification to the Fellowship.<o:p></o:p>

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Please
see: disc.na.org/servdisc/showthread.php?235-Amazon-iTunes-our-Literature-and-the-Traditions<o:p></o:p>

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Apple Privacy Policy:  www.apple.com/privacy/ <o:p></o:p>

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Apple
and its affiliates may share this personal information with each other and use it consistent with this Privacy Policy. They may
also combine it with other information to provide and improve our products,
services, content, and advertising.<o:p></o:p>

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It also
helps us to improve our services, content, and advertising.<o:p></o:p>

<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

We also
may collect information regarding customer activities on our website, iCloud
and MobileMe services, and iTunes Store and from our other
products and services.<o:p></o:p>

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Disclosure
to Third Parties<o:p></o:p>

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At times
Apple may make certain personal information available to strategic
partners that work with Apple to provide products and services, or that help
Apple market to customers. Personal information will only be shared by
Apple to provide or improve our products, services and advertising;
it will not be shared with third parties for their marketing purposes.<o:p></o:p>

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Amazon Privacy Policy: www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=footer_privacy?ie=UTF8&nodeId=468496<o:p></o:p>

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Amazon Sellers Agreement:  sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/on-board/help-content.html?ie=UTF8&repeatButtonsAtEnd=1&localizationKey=ATVPDKIKX0DER&isOnlineMapa=&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&mapaAcceptanceDate=&tokens=agreement.MERCHANT_SILVER&showTitles=1&hasPrintButton=1&invitationID=&agreementID=&hasCloseButton=1 <o:p></o:p>

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W-5 Data
and Communications. We and you will co-own all the Customer Account
Information and Webstore Transaction Information. <o:p></o:p>

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CAR REPORT:<o:p></o:p>

There are
those that insist that the removal of the PDFs and agreements with iTunes and
Amazon were voted on, and approved in the last Conference Agenda Report. 
This is NOT accurate.<o:p></o:p>

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If you
review the Conference Agenda Report (available at www.na.org/admin/include/spaw2/uploads/pdf/conference/CAR/2012_CAR.pdf)<o:p></o:p>

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I can
find no such motion in the WSC 2012 CAR Report<o:p></o:p>

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The CAR
reported that NAWS would be pulling the PDF versions of the literature off of
the Narcotics Anonymous website.  This was an arbitrary decision. 
The Fellowship was not asked for permission, it was informed of decisions and
actions taken by NAWS.<o:p></o:p>

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<span style="color:black;
background:#FAFAFA">The motions were about the PRODUCTION of enhanced
electronic versions of our literature, not about their distribution, not about
permission to enter into third-party contracts requiring membership in third
party organizations, not about requiring members to give up their anonymity in
order to purchase electronic versions of our literature.

</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p>

</span></p>

Review
pages 21-22<o:p></o:p>

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In the
face of the mass distributions and sales, we believe the responsible course of <o:p></o:p>

action
is to remove the book-length .pdfs from our site and instead offer excerpts <o:p></o:p>

online,
not the full text. This is action we are taking regardless of the outcome
of the <o:p></o:p>

motions
on the FIPT: We are including this update in the CAR to keep the fellowship <o:p></o:p>

advised
on this upcoming change. To summarize,
we will be replacing the full text of <o:p></o:p>

online
books with an excerpt, either the table of contents or the first chapter, and
we <o:p></o:p>

will be
producing electronic or digital versions of the books for sale. We do plan to <o:p></o:p>

leave
all IPs and booklets online in 41 languages in order to serve our members and<o:p></o:p>

potential
members. The question before the conference is simply whether or not the <o:p></o:p>

electronic
versions will be enhanced as described above.<o:p></o:p>