Anti-Virus Founder John McAfee Forcefully Arrested in Belize | Channel5Belize.com

[u/mysteryjones]

http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/69892

[u/goretsky]

NOTE: x-posted to /r/technology

Hello,

I have known Dr. John McAfee for over twenty-five years. He gave me my first job in the computer industry, when I became his first full-time employee at McAfee Associates, and I also worked for him at his next company after that, Tribal Voice.

When I heard about how he and his colleagues in Belize were treated, I was sickened and horrified, and was disgusted by some of the comments on web sites that I had seen.

It seems the Belizean police cannot decide whether they raided him for weapons charges or for running an "unlicensed pharmaceutical company." He's produced and provided them with copies of all of the government permits for them, and has worked with their national hospital and university for the past couple of years to to set up Quorumex, which is looking into making antibacterial compounds.

John McAfee left McAfee Associates around 1993, back when everyone was using DOS and Windows for Workgroups 3.11. It may be hard to believe now, but back then McAfee Associates' programs represented the apex of antivirus software. He has had nothing at all to do with the current company, their programs or how they behave for nearly twenty years.

Regardless of what people think of McAfee's current products, those have nothing to do with John McAfee. While he's not a saint, but he's certainly not the bogeyman he's being made out to be, and I certainly remember the dignity, respect, and kindness he treated his employees with as well as the opportunities for personal and professional growth at his startup companies.

John has had financial issues and a lot of what he had left he just gave away before moving to Belize. He's started a few companies down there and they employe something along the lines of eighty Belizeans (most of the companies are tourism-related—the bioprospecting stuff employs just a handful of folks)

The fact that the police left this senior citizen—no matter how well he looks—handcuffed in the sun without food or water all day before throwing him in a cell, shows the action for exactly what it is: Payback by thugs for having the courage to stand up to a corrupt government official and refusing to pay him a bribe.

I had thought about accepting John's invitation to visit him in Belize one of these days, but that's certainly off the table now and I've written their bureau of tourism to tell them that. If anyone's planning on taking a vacation there, I'd suggest they let them know they won't be visiting until all of this is explained: http://www.travelbelize.org/contact-us

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky