The Price of Treason

Discovery

On or around Tueday, March 27th, 2007, several people following the World of Year Zero received an email message indicating it was sent by the "Bureau of Morality", indicating that they had visited websites that--in the world of Year Zero--contained illegal content. The message went on to warn the reader that he or she would be subject to consequences in the future, and referred readers to a web address: www.thepriceoftreason.net.

Transcription of the e-mail

Bureau of Morality - Year 0000 Search <DCS1000@thepriceoftreason.net>

<TRACE>
<INITIALIZE: DCS1000 v24.5.3>
<SEARCH>
<IDENTIFIED: http://www.iamtryingtobelieve.com>
<IDENTIFIED: http://www.anotherversionofthetruth.com>
<IDENTIFIED: http://www.artisresistance.com>
<ERROR: http://www.solutionsbackwardsinitiative.net/pilgrims>
||||| date-time failure |||||
<RESUME SEARCH>
<IDENTIFIED: obstaculo@gmail.com>
<END TRACE>

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ATTENTION!

The Bureau of Morality has identified you as A CONSUMER OF DISSIDENT MATERIAL.

This is a one time warning. Any further attempts to view, consume, or distribute un-american content will result in the loss of citizenship increments and/or the imposition of fines, penalties, or imprisonment.

You have choices. Make the RIGHT ones.

For further information on making good choices, visit http://www.thepriceoftreason.net

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Bureau of Morality One Nation Under God

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Auto-Response

Several people, after receiving this email, attempted to reply to it to see what would result. The following is the text of the automated response:

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dcs1000@thepriceoftreason.net a usuario

This server does not accept incoming mail. Do not attempt to explain, deny, or justify your activities.

Friends, parents, teachers-anyone can try to shake your belief in America. Traitors and dissidents aren't stupid: some of the things they say can sound very reasonable. But...

REASON can be TREASON.

Remember the cost. http://www.ThePriceOfTreason.net

Website Contents

Accessing the website initially loads a short flash movie which referrs to many factual suspensions of civil liberites that occured during the American Civil War, and then reveals that the responsible party for those suspensions was President Abraham Lincoln. It then proceeds to a page with links to several stories of people of the world of Year Zero, and in a propagandistic way uses them to illustrate the site's main thesis: that there are dire consequences to those who attempt to rebel against the authority in place in the world of Year Zero, in this case, the American government.

Neil Czerno

One of the linked stories, entitled "The Slow Slide Into Treason", tells the story of one Neil Czerno who was ultimately executed. In the story, it is mentioned that he started a website named Open Source Resistance, which led to the discovery of this currently active website at www.OpenSourceResistance.net.

Interestingly enough, in the story it mentions that Neil's wife encountered cancer, forcing Neil to turn to the French government for help. The auto-reply to email sent to the address found on the Secure Broadcast Informatics website contains an anonymous e-mail to Francisco about his lack of cooperation with the BoM and mentions his wife having breast cancer. (See the Secure Broadcast Informatics page for the full text of this email.) Add to this the fact that Neil is a webmaster, and the email from Francisco indicates he is an IT Specialist who handles internet bandwidth for clients, and that they both have a definite advocacy of free speech; while there is no hard evidence at this point they are the same person, the parallels are interesting to note.

The Grapes of Wrath

In the background image there is text from chapter 19 of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath".

"Rattlesnakes! Don’t take chances with ’em, an’ if they argue, shoot first. If a kid’ll kill a cop, what’ll the men do? Thing is, get tougher’n they are. Treat ‘em rough. Scare ‘em."

Number

The number 24.5.1 can be seen on this page in white, written over the white "Price of treason" title.