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Antivirus Pioneer John McAfee Arrested In Belize

First time accepted submitter rebelwarlock writes "McAfee lives in Belize and he says that he has become a target of the Gang Suppression Unit. He says the GSU came busting into his research facility in Orange Walk, killed his dog, took his passport, handcuffed him and arrested him on a bogus weapons charge. McAfee says he's a victim because he didn't donate money to a known U.D.P. Orange Walk politician."

97 of 367 comments (clear)

  1. About time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    With any luck Norton is next.

    1. Re:About time by Krneki · · Score: 2

      Norton is soo 2000. HP security tools are teh sex now.

      --
      Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
    2. Re:About time by bubblegoose · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I was thinking the same thing. The U.S. should have him extradited. Maybe charge him for theft for all the computer resources his products have taken.

      --
      I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people. - Jack Handey
  2. Clearly... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...they were just warning him that his subscription was about to run out.

    1. Re:Clearly... by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ...they were just warning him that his subscription was about to run out.

      It's ironic that a man who works for an organization that uses the same business model: paying protection money so nothing bad happens to himself or his property, just had something bad happen to him for not paying a different organization protection money. Antivirus software is based mostly on scare tactics and it is an attempt at fixing the problem of poor digital hygiene. If people were just more careful with their data, and didn't use web browsers or other network software that allowed the execution of arbitrary code (Javascript, for example: 90% of the websites out there that use it could be redesigned to work without it) would find their risk of a virus or malware infection to be slightly above nothing. Of course, you can't eliminate the risk entirely, but there's no need to be dropping $50 plus a year on subscriptions either.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    2. Re:Clearly... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Free antivirus makes your point moot. You don't need to pay $50 a year but it gives stupid people piece of mind that there aren't 50 million hackers stealing their grandchildrens pictures off their machine. Going without any antivirus on a windows machine is not the smartest thing to do unless you know what you are doing. It's basically insurance for those who don't give two shits about the sites they visit and can't be arsed to learn anything about security. Besides, it's not like he's forcing you to buy his shitware or he will infect your machine. AV software is like car insurance, most of the time you are just paying for nothing but when you actually need it, it's pretty damn helpful.

    3. Re:Clearly... by artor3 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I know you're joking, but a lot of other people aren't and I can't respond to all of them. McAfee (the person) hasn't had anything to do with McAfee (the malware company) for nearly twenty years. He does pharmaceutical research now, and has nearly blown through his entire fortune in the process. Perhaps that's why he could no longer afford to pay the protection money ...er, I mean, make the "political donations".

    4. Re:Clearly... by rainmouse · · Score: 2

      Interestingly his wiki profile says something very different.

      "On May 2, 2012, McAfee was arrested for unlicensed drug manufacture and illegal weapons in the Central America country of Belize." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McAfee

    5. Re:Clearly... by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's ironic that a man who works for an organization that uses the same business model: paying protection money so nothing bad happens to himself or his property, just had something bad happen to him for not paying a different organization protection money.

      Are you suggesting that MacAfee has been creating viruses? Because you're comparing it to an organization that is both the 'problem' and the 'solution'.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    6. Re:Clearly... by EdIII · · Score: 4, Informative

      Javascript, for example: 90% of the websites out there that use it could be redesigned to work without it

      So what you are really saying is that you don't know how websites are made?

      Javascript is a client-side scripting language that allows us to modify the DOM (the visible webpage) and make API calls to get data. Without it, there is a hell of lot we just simply cannot do anymore.

      While it may be possible to implement everything in a server side scripting language like PHP, it will not be nearly as pretty or functional. Keep in mind, some of that pretty makes it fairly damned functional by creating UI that are not possible with server side only implementations.

      Whether you like it or not we are going to continue moving towards browsers being merely dynamic front ends for applications and that simply requires client side code. Period.

      The only other option is a metric butt-ton of RDP connections so that users can enjoy an application remotely and that is ridiculously impractical.

      Saying that 90% of websites should be redesigned in such a fashion is quite comical.

    7. Re:Clearly... by Kokuyo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Frankly, I only need it when I surf porn sites and there, Microsoft Security Essentials does the trick. As far as I know, you don't even need to pirate that one.

    8. Re:Clearly... by gd2shoe · · Score: 2

      That line was added by a bot, so who knows where it was pulled from or who wrote it?

      I don't know the truth of the matter, but of course the "authorities" are going to make that accusation if they want to punish a medical research lab. It's the "crime" that best fits the "perp". Having additional perspective is fine, but it's no more definitive than his statement at the moment.

      --
      I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
    9. Re:Clearly... by Kokuyo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What do you mean expendable? You do realise that those are adult people, yes?

      In case of Katz, alcoholism is a self-inflicted thing that needs the participation and motivation of the afflicted to be cured. Only they can, in fact, cure themselves. How do you even expect us to help them if they do not want to be helped?

      We are not their baby-sitters. It's their lives to do with as they please. And who knows, perhaps Katz liked it that way. Drunk driving aside, who are we to tell him he can't do it that way? I wasn't there and I didn't know the guy so I will certainly not act as if I had the right to judge.

    10. Re:Clearly... by jones_supa · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Whether you like it or not we are going to continue moving towards browsers being merely dynamic front ends for applications and that simply requires client side code. Period.

      The only other option is a metric butt-ton of RDP connections so that users can enjoy an application remotely and that is ridiculously impractical.

      I just wish there was a better way to deliver remote UIs than AJAX (or "metric butt-ton of RDP connections"). It's a crude and slow hack (although a practical one) to use HTML for dynamic content. Even server side scripts are bit of a bubble gum or an afterthought at least.

      There should be a dedicated protocol to deliver UI elements. Maybe there some day will be when this all just gets too messy.

    11. Re:Clearly... by dbIII · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Coincidence. I think not

      They are just two things that depend on the same problem - the failure of Microsoft to introduce a viable security model in the 1990s and the lag relating to compatibility with Microsoft's 1990s software.

    12. Re:Clearly... by sosume · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not only that. He flees from the US to some tax haven so he won't have to repay society for all the money he extracted. The thing is, he forgot that living in such cheap places come with certain downsides. This was one of them, wait until he gets into a car accident or desperately needs medical attention, he'll remigrate faster than the popups appear for his antivirus programs. Karma est meretrix.

    13. Re:Clearly... by reve_etrange · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I only need it when I surf porn sites and there

      Clearly you haven't read the next article.

      --
      .: Semper Absurda :.
    14. Re:Clearly... by optimism · · Score: 5, Insightful

      AV software is like car insurance

      Only if your car insurance also lowers your gas mileage, decreases your acceleration & cornering & braking performance, and flashes your headlights, while honking your horn randomly, when you're just trying to drive from A to B.

      Most commercial anti-virus software exhibits ~exactly~ the behaviors that people expect from a virus: degraded performance, consumption of disk and memory resources, intrusive popups, etc.

      most of the time you are just paying for nothing but when you actually need it, it's pretty damn helpful.

      When you actually need it, it's too late. As someone mentioned earlier, basic digital hygiene is the best solution. Beyond that a free AV package to run a one-time scan if/when something slips through.

    15. Re:Clearly... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Funny you say that. If you access the "mobile" versions of a lot of sites they have no Javascript, load nearly instantly and often times have SUPERIOR UI to the "full blown" site that has a lot of meaningless crap.

      Yelp is a good example. The mobile version of Yelp is simple and to the point. Is it spartan? Yes, but it's good enough.

    16. Re:Clearly... by CSMoran · · Score: 5, Funny

      I only need it when I surf porn sites and there

      Clearly you haven't read the next article.

      Or he doesn't surf religious websites.

      --
      Every end has half a stick.
    17. Re:Clearly... by Fuzzy+Viking · · Score: 3, Informative

      That is assuming that free antivirus is as good as paid, which in my experience it is not. I have had to clean up systems running so-called free antivirus and some of them had 30+ varieties of malware. I use a paid software at home and it has already paid for itself several times over in blocked attacks.

    18. Re:Clearly... by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 2

      Frankly, I only need it when I surf porn sites and there,

      Why don't you just put a condom on your ethernet jack when surfing porn? Stops viruses 100%...

    19. Re:Clearly... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The society he grew up in enabled him to get educated, start a company, and become a wealthy individual. Had mr. McAfee been born in ZImbabwe, he would not have been able to start his imperium. Society enabled him; that results in a moral debt which he should repay. Taking off with the cash and settling in some corrupt banana republic does not advance society to enable others like he was privileged. The statement that that is "dim-witted Marxist bullshit" as you call it, says more about you than the GP.

    20. Re:Clearly... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I agree. If you betray the country that enabled you to become wealthy, then don't cry to it for help if you get fucked over in your new tax haven.
      He worked for NASA and for Lockheed Martin, both are government funded, whole or in part.
      His company benefited from the legal protections of the US.
      He moved to Belize to avoid multiple lawsuits.
      Suck it up John; you chose a new devil and know it wants to know you.

    21. Re: Clearly... by CSMoran · · Score: 2

      Or (s)he gets a kick out of surfing religious websites

      Then they count as porn :). Rule 34 and all that.

      --
      Every end has half a stick.
    22. Re:Clearly... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're shitting me, right? Most mobile websites, including Yelp, are almost 100% JavaScript. How else do you think they make the UI so flashy?

    23. Re:Clearly... by arth1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That is assuming that free antivirus is as good as paid, which in my experience it is not. I have had to clean up systems running so-called free antivirus and some of them had 30+ varieties of malware.

      How do you know this? By trusting an anti-malware program?
      I see your problem, and it isn't the AV software.

      In truth, AV software, payware or not, is much like bicycle support wheels. They won't prevent you from crashing, and in the long run is a bloody nuisance, but can be useful for new riders or those with no interest in learning how to bike.

      Disclaimer: I was the author of an AV program. It likely was the first such software being able to find newer viruses than the software and libraries, using heuristic algorithms and partial disassembly. It had one big flaw: It listed what the executable looked like it would do, the calculated probability, and expected the user to actually make a judgment. As I said, a big flaw.

    24. Re:Clearly... by arth1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, I have absolutely no sympathy for John McAfee. He made a choice, and has to face the consequences. TANSTAAFL.
      If Belize was truly so much better, we would all live there. (Or, to put it another way, if McAfee was so much better than other AV software, we would all use it...)

      I feel very sorry for the true victim here: the dog.

    25. Re:Clearly... by Smallpond · · Score: 2

      Protocol isn't the issue. JS reduces the bandwidth and connections-per-second requirement on the server. If JS was implemented according to the strict spec it would be safe. The problem is dumb and lazy web designers who keep wanting to poke holes in the protection. Go to stackoverflow and look up the number of questions from people asking how to upload a file without bothering the user about it.

    26. Re:Clearly... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They are not gifts. They are part of a contract. I give you tax money, so you provide to me protection (police), medical care, infrastructure (roads, zoning, depending on your country it could include gas, water and power), education (schools) and a few other tidbits.

      I have a contract with my country. I pay tax for services they provide. The services are only available as a package, so I can at best choose between various countries and thus various packages. Provided I may immigrate, I can choose the best value for my money.

      So there may be a "debt" to be paid. Who paid for his school and his medical care while he was not productive himself?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    27. Re:Clearly... by ifiwereasculptor · · Score: 2

      AV software is like car insurance, most of the time you are just paying for nothing but when you actually need it, it's pretty damn helpful.

      Making freqüent backups is like car insurance. AV software is more like towing a spare car behind yours - sure, it might save you from being in a tough spot in a few conceivable cases (mostly if you neglect proper maintenance and care), but usually it just degrades the performance and efficiency of your vehicle and proves worthless in a likely pinch, like an accident or hijacking.

    28. Re:Clearly... by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      There is no telling how "successful" people feel. Take me, for example. I am, at least when it comes to economic success, very successful. I have more money than I need, I could afford whatever I want (ok, my wishes concerning what money can buy are fairly conservative... unless it comes to IT-hardware, which isn't that expensive, 6k buy already a kickass workstation, 10k buy a kickass server...), despite paying roughly 50% tax (yeah, I'm not in Belize or any other tax haven, but who cares about money).

      But happy, I am not.

      I feel unproductive and lazy. My field is IT-security, and bluntly, it's a bit like medicine. People only come to you when they have problems and are unhappy, or when you go to people they feel like they did something wrong and are about to get into trouble. You never get to see people who are happy to see you. The old joke is sadly true:

      If you come into a cafeteria filled to the brim with people and you have one huge table with two people sitting on it who are even ignoring each other, you know where IT-security and controlling are sitting.

      No matter how much you try to be viewed as an aid in the struggle for safety, you are generally a nuisance. It's hard to tell the average person why they have to jump so many hoops to get what they want just because that security idiot butts in every time they want to do something and tells them that they cannot do it this or that way.

      That does not make you happy.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    29. Re:Clearly... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Drug addiction always comes from a need that cannot be filled by the addict otherwise. It's not a solution for that problem, but it's an escape. Nobody gets hooked on heroin because they think it's so cool and so funny. It is invariably the wish to get out of the unbearable situation they are in.

      Likewise with alcohol. And society can do quite a bit in such a situation. I don't know the actual situation for Katz, but I'm fairly sure he didn't drink because it was so much fun.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    30. Re:Clearly... by scdeimos · · Score: 2

      There should be a dedicated protocol to deliver UI elements. Maybe there some day will be when this all just gets too messy.

      VT52, VT100, VT220, ANSI and many others for pure text aficionados. RIPscript for those bent on graphics. It's all been done before.

    31. Re:Clearly... by shiftless · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Society enabled him; that results in a moral debt which he should repay.

      LOL....sorry, no. I didn't ask to come into this world, and neither did McAfee. He doesn't owe anyone a fucking thing, least of all you and your corrupt "society." Our Founding Fathers would shake their head in disgust at your idea.

    32. Re:Clearly... by arth1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      My AV package doesn't do any of those things. Sure, it isn't great, but it does not get in the way of my work and I am actually more efficient than when not using it. To the best of my knowledge, it has kept me clean the last few years. It's called Ubuntu, maybe you've heard of it.

      Unfortunately, the Ubuntu virus prevents you from running (or causes malfunctions in) packages like Adobe Framemaker, Crystal Reports, Office 2010 with all components, H&R Block TaxCut, and many other applications. I am a Linux user myself, but that doesn't mean I have to also use Windows. It doesn't even mean that my Linux installations are immune to malware. And it'd be a heck of a lot easier to get malware onto an Ubuntu installation through social engineering than a distro where the default isn't to let a user run any program as root through sudo.

      tl;dr: Get off your high horse.

    33. Re:Clearly... by shiftless · · Score: 3, Insightful

      In case of Katz, alcoholism is a self-inflicted thing

      He was depressed, you fucking self-absorbed moron

    34. Re:Clearly... by malice · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Indeed, 1/3rd of Belizeans live in the USA, because the economic opportunities are lacking in their country, in no small part due to corruption of local politicians.

      There also are incentives to move to Belize, allowing you to move your household possessions, cars, etc. down there tax-free. Just pay the government a small fee.

      I've spent time down there, it's a beautiful country, but with an odd mix of enclaves of super-expensive housing developments for expats, and shanty towns for locals.

    35. Re:Clearly... by iamgnat · · Score: 2

      That is assuming that free antivirus is as good as paid, which in my experience it is not. I have had to clean up systems running so-called free antivirus and some of them had 30+ varieties of malware. I use a paid software at home and it has already paid for itself several times over in blocked attacks.

      At my last job we hosted various high profile public websites and because of organizational rules we had to use specific paid-for AV software on the servers. We also ran Clam as well and in 2 years at that job Clam was the only one that ever identified (and we verified) infected files that had been uploaded to the sites. So IIRC that was somewhere in the $10k range for those 2 years for zero protection. Not much money to a large scale operation, but galling all the same to me.

    36. Re:Clearly... by Thud457 · · Score: 2
      What's amazing is the number of libertarian internet toughguys posting in this thread that completely fail to recognize what happened here as a lite version of the common retort "go live in your libertarian paradise of Somalia".
      1. McAfee moves to tax-haven country to avoid paying his fair share to maintain a lawful civil society
      2. McAfee goes cheap and doesn't pay the customary bribes to the right people in his chosen banana republic (one could almost look at it as a tax, horrors)
      3. Armed goons break down his door, shoot his dog, and leave him handcuffed in the hot tropical sun without water for hours
      4. HA HA! /Nelsom Muntz
        oops, I mean, "oh my, how terrible".

      The fact that our country's system is currently so distorted doesn't belie the fact that some things are worth paying for for the common good.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    37. Re:Clearly... by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      There certainly are always ways to fill that need, but people can't see them. Unfortunately, people are generally not omniscient, and experience is a really crappy way to gain information: You get it after you needed it.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    38. Re:Clearly... by HiThere · · Score: 2

      IIRC, that Ubuntu default of "user can use sudo" only exists for the first user created at installation time (unless they've changed this recently). With additional users, you need to add them to the sudoers group if you want to give them root access. (I could go check, but I know that it was trivial to create a user that doesn't have that privilege.)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    39. Re:Clearly... by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2

      But... But... Those were government armed goons! Only governments are capable of producing armed goons that want you to bribe them not to hurt you! I believe this because my entire philosophy collapses if I don't!

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  3. WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    His dog didn't do anything! I wouldn't be shocked to read that members of PETA shot someone from the GSU in the next few days.

    1. Re:WTF? by tobiah · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They do it to intimidate the owner, the same reason they break down unlocked doors. It's violence that is easily written off as property damage.

      --
      "The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool" - Jane Wagner -
    2. Re:WTF? by arth1 · · Score: 5, Funny

      if I was swat, I wouldn't want a 120lbs german shepard trying to tear my leg apart.

      A 120 lb German Shepherd is a seriously fat dog unlikely to attack anything but its food bowl.

    3. Re:WTF? by Mabhatter · · Score: 2

      Then surround the house, and allow the person to turn themselves over in a CIVIL manner. That means they will probably call a LAWYER to check your warrant and such... Imagine that. They do this for PURE intimidation.

      Everybody who's on SWAT should have their home (if they have kids) or their parents home "secured" before they can go on missions. Get to have everybody cuffed and hauled off to the station.

      I always find it funny that a household dog "might" be trained to attack so they HAVE to shoot it (after knocking down the DOOR holding it inside). But when a K-9 dog attacks some kid in the park on its day off it was "accidentally responding to a training trigger". ...

    4. Re:WTF? by shiftless · · Score: 5, Informative

      Why are you shocked and surprised? This happens every day in the United States in drug raids. Whole family is sitting down to dinner, just chilling one evening, then the door explodes (gotta love those no-knock warrants) while armed thugs swarm in, family dog gets a bullet (well that pomeranian could have gotten a cop and given him an infection ya know), kids are screaming while mom and dad are roughly thrown to the ground. Thugs take their time searching through the house and snickering loudly at mom's sex toys. Sometimes people even get shot for absolutely no reason.

      Welcome to the creeping tyranny of a police state. Not so fun to actually be a part of one, is it?

  4. Here's your legal advice Mr. McAfee by BigSlowTarget · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Get the hell out of there as soon as you can. If the corruption is that bad you won't be getting a fair trial.

    1. Re:Here's your legal advice Mr. McAfee by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      At least he's saving on income tax.

    2. Re:Here's your legal advice Mr. McAfee by ArsonSmith · · Score: 3, Funny

      Are you kidding? He'd have to go through airport security before he could get back into the US. He's better off there.

      --
      Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
    3. Re:Here's your legal advice Mr. McAfee by artor3 · · Score: 4, Funny

      *psst* You might wanna check a map.

  5. Obviously... by hundredrabh · · Score: 5, Funny

    He needs better protection.

    --
    --whacky
  6. Question: Why does this guy live in Belize? by lanner · · Score: 5, Informative
    1. Re:Question: Why does this guy live in Belize? by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 3, Insightful

      In his defence (if you're even making a snide remark at him; I'm not really clear) he's donated millions to public works in the country. I suspect if more of the commentators here had RTFAed, they would be a little kinder.

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    2. Re:Question: Why does this guy live in Belize? by robotkid · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There's quite alot of foreshadowing in the fastcompany article:

      Then there is the $1 million patrol boat he donated to the Belizean coast guard. (In a letter to The New York Times, he described it as an act of philanthropy; later, he tells me he had to bribe members of the coast guard to prevent them from hassling his ferry business: "This is a third-world country. I had to bribe a whole bunch of folks.

      indicating that he routinely gives large, overt, public bribes to get whatever he wants in Belize

      Then there's this:

      "And so a pair of police officers came to visit him. "We are sorry that we have to tell you to stop building that wall," they said. "I am sorry that I have to tell you that I am going to build it anyway," he told them, and they left. To McAfee, this exchange was proof of the evolved level of discourse in Belize, where a person is largely left to do as he pleases. . . At the time, I thought that he was simply being argumentative. But McAfee seems to want freedom without limitation. Needless to say, few of us exercise this sort of freedom. It tends to be very expensive."

      Either he is willfully ignoring the fact that this seems to have been a small-time shakedown attempt or he is completely oblivious to it. Did he really think Belize patrolmen (note, not the environmental cops) are so genuinely concerned about shoreline regulations?? He doesn't seem to realize by being so brazen about describing large bribes to the press he's just inviting even bigger, less polite shake-downs in the future, which sounds exactly like what (unfortunately) just went down. Did he really think that request for a campaign contribution for the guy employing police hitsquads was purely optional when bribes for building permits, import permits, business titles, etc. for his dozens of shell companies were not?

      Sure, it still sucks, and I feel sorry for him, but it really does sound like he specifically chose Belize because he liked how pliable the laws were if you had money and it never occurred to him that cuts both ways...

  7. Re:Killed his dog by rhizome · · Score: 2

    They're just emulating US Police.

    http://www.theagitator.com/?s=puppycide

    --
    When I was a kid, we only had one Darth.
  8. Theme song for this thread by symbolset · · Score: 2
    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  9. Move to Israel the corruption there is much more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Move to Israel the corruption there is much more "user friendly" and you probably enjoy all the hustling and haggling. It might be a religious country, but sure ain't when it comes to economy and politicians themselves. And yea, you'd be able to make some deals and keep your weapons if you move to the territories. Being a goy you'd be surrounded by unfriendly on both sides of the green line.

  10. Sounds similar to tactics.... by wbr1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...McAfee AV used on my PC. I know it held the CPU hostage. And demanded more money and threatened me when I did not pony up. It told me I was not safe.. that I needed to 'buy' protection. I tried contacting the local police, but an IT friend of mine said that the entire county, including the popo was under a McAfee 'contract'.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:Sounds similar to tactics.... by CyberDruid · · Score: 2

      ...but did it kill your dog?

      --

      Opinions stated are mine and do not reflect those of the Illuminati

  11. Well that's funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not too long ago, I think maybe on Sunday or Monday of this week, the conservative blogosphere was all atwitter over some alleged "enemies list" that Barack Obama keeps of people who donate to competing campaigns or refuse solicitations to donate to his.

    You want a real enemies list? Go look at what happened to John McAfee and be thankful you fucktards still have your house and your pets and your family with you.

    The conservative histrionics this year is just out of this world.

    1. Re:Well that's funny by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Insightful

      the conservative blogosphere was all atwitter

      You Sir are my grammar hero of the day. What a beautiful sentence :)

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:Well that's funny by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When the president of any country publicly calls you out by name and says you're on the "wrong side of the law", you have every reason to be afraid. Especially when the president's appointees have openly practiced and justified the unlimited detention and the killing of citizens without due process.

      Claiming that it's "conservatives" are against this is a pretty disingenuous way to defend this kind of behavior. Especially considering it's likely a conservative president will likely be elected at some time in the future. When he tries these things, will you defend it then, too?

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
  12. Maybe he should have kept paying his taxes ... by quax · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... in the good ole USA. Many pretty places to live there, too.

    1. Re:Maybe he should have kept paying his taxes ... by dadioflex · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This. At least in the US if you're a rich man you don't need to lock yourself away in a gated compound surrounded by security... no, no, I'm hearing myself say it. Never mind.

  13. Comment on Belize's Facebook page? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Leaving a few comments on Belize's page could have some effect. I for sure am not traveling to Belize because of this.
    https://www.facebook.com/TravelBelize [facebook.com]

  14. U.D.P by The+Evil+Atheist · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is obviously a warning to keep with TCP and maintain connections.

    --
    Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
  15. Re:Licensing Firearms by Intropy · · Score: 2

    While I agree with you that requiring licenses for firearms is foolish, I don't think that was really a factor here. He had licenses for his firearms, and he was still charged for their possession. If the police are corrupt enough to trump up charges on you, given the will, they will have little trouble inventing something.

  16. Probably has to do with McAfee blocking scam sites by thisisauniqueid · · Score: 2

    Belize is a great place to host a shady site. I was scammed as a seller on eBay by a Russian reshipment fraud circle that operated a fake storefront website in Belize and recruited reshippers via monster.com, then used stolen PayPal accounts to deposit actual payment in sellers' bank accounts followed by having sellers ship to the reshippers, who then on-shipped to Russia. Anyway, the short story is that probably these guys didn't like the fact that McAfee was blocking some of their scam websites...

  17. John in trouble again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It sounds like a bad day that never should have happened. Of interest, John got himself run off the Hawaiian island of Molokai not too many years ago by local activists angered by his attempt to come in and be a savior against drugs. He was running full page ads in the local paper with pictures of neighborhoods where he alleged drug transactions were regularly going on. He even started his own newspaper to carry on the battle. Next thing you knew, they were all over his case to the point that he had to auction off his property, including a never lived-in and nearly completed beach house and some other property he had here at significant losses. Even his auctions raised a lot of negative stuff from the activists. He may be a good person but he has a penchant for pissing off the wrong guys.

    1. Re:John in trouble again? by cmholm · · Score: 2

      In any case, the Fast Company article referenced by @lanner makes it pretty clear why McAfee cleared out for Belize: he's liable to lose a wrongful death lawsuit in Maricopa County Civil Court (search on case# CV2008-009723) related to the half-assed sky trike tour company he let a 22 y.o. nephew run.

      --
      Luke, help me take this mask off ... Just for once, let me butterfly kiss you with my own eyes.
  18. Re:Never could have happened here... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 2

    That never would have happened to a rich white guy

    If he was a rich white guy, he wouldn't be protesting against the government, he would be buying politicians, instead.

    And he would pay someone else to beat his wife for him.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  19. Too Often, Killed His Dog by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm hearing too often about police raids that involve killing someone's dog in the process. I'm coming to think that killing a person's dog -- whether the person is innocent or not, and the dog most likely is completely innocent -- is a tactic now of police forces around the world to intimidate and harm the suspect regardless of the validity of the raid. Are police being taught that it is just safer to kill any dog they come across? It has gotten to the point where I'm rooting for the dog to win at least once.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  20. Aptly named by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I bet you thought they were a (gang suppression) unit,

    but they're actually a gang (suppression unit).

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  21. The Three Ps by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Priests, Policemen, and Politicians. I just watched a documentary about a famous, now-defunct Black comedy club in Chicago called _All Jokes Aside_. The former owner noted the big city phenomenon of the 3Ps showing up when a business gets successful looking for handouts. And, if you don't pay up, each one will do their best to make you pay for it. In his case, he took care of the police, but not the politicians who made it a point to make sure he couldn't get a liquor license when he decided to relocate.

    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
  22. shit like that happens by steve.cri · · Score: 2

    to ordinary people all the time, all around the world. it has to happen to a a rich guy in a poor country for the sheepish majority to see what an unchecked police force can do to people.

  23. Check the citation... by denzacar · · Score: 5, Informative

    From Wikipedia:

    Beginning in February 2010, John started a new venture in the field of bacterial quorum sensing.
    His new company QuorumEx is headquartered in Belize and is working towards producing commercial all natural antibiotics based on anti-quorum sensing technology.[6]

    From the cited article:
    http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/69891

    Analysts at the Forensic Laboratory, and personnel from the Ministry of Health were taken to inspect the facility and samples of an alleged antibiotic apparently being manufactured at the Laboratory were also taken for analysis.
    The Ministry of Health has already confirmed that no licence has been granted to McAfee or any of his agents to manufacture antibiotics in Belize.
    Doing so without a licence is an offence under the Antibiotics Act.

    Then, there are bits that seem a tad... not directly related to the alleged main issue of the police action:

    Present on the premises at the time were John McAfee, his girlfriend who is a seventeen year old Belizean minor, five security guards.
      ...
     
    Further investigation led into a query regarding the employment of the security guards. This revealed that only two of the four guards on the premises were licensed to act as security guards.

      ...
     
    At the end of the search, three of the security guards were arrested and charged for "Providing Security Services without a License".

    Also, the dog was not shot dead. It was "fatally wounded".

    ...the GSU says that three of the eleven dogs on the premises attacked and bit one of the officers on his right thigh.
    The same dog then attacked a B.D.F. soldier who responded by fatally wounded the dog.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    1. Re:Check the citation... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What's the difference between killing the dog and fatally wounding it?

    2. Re:Check the citation... by arth1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This. The guy is 66 and has a 17 year old girlfriend.

      He seems to assume laws don't apply to him (even if it's legal in Belize to have a 50 year younger minor as your girlfriend, it's morally questionable).

      The thing about moral values is that they apply to those who have them; applying them to others is bigotry.
      You don't know anything about the moral values of John McAfee and his girlfriend, and judging them by yours is bigotry, unless you are also ready to be judged by, say, Sharia moral values.

      I'm not saying it doesn't raise a worry, but I'm also not judging. I don't know enough to do so.

    3. Re:Check the citation... by shiftless · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No, "fatally wounded" means not instantly killed, but it will die from its wounds no matter what. "Mortally wounded" is what you're thinking of.

  24. Lesson learned by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    There is a simple lesson here. Don't live in third-world shit holes like Belize. First world shit-holes like America are bad enough.

    1. Re:Lesson learned by ClioCJS · · Score: 2

      If you think the description of the article isn't EXACTLY how things go down in America, you haven't been reading enough.

      --
      -Clio
      Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
      Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
  25. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by Morty · · Score: 3, Informative

    Then there is the $1 million patrol boat he donated to the Belizean coast guard. (In a letter to The New York Times, he described it as an act of philanthropy; later, he tells me he had to bribe members of the coast guard to prevent them from hassling his ferry business: "This is a third-world country. I had to bribe a whole bunch of folks.

    indicating that he routinely gives large, overt, public bribes to get whatever he wants in Belize

    Bribing foreign officials is a violation of the US law Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. So it's surprising that he would admit this to a journalist.

  26. Porn sites are more ethical, anyway by Kupfernigk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is this flamebait? Anyway, yes, as a (not very good perhaps) Quaker, with our testimony to ethical business, I have to observe that people who want pictures of naked people having sex go to porn sites where they presumably get exactly that. Most of the religious websites I have (usually accidentally) visited make extremely dubious and unprovable claims which, for any other subject, would in this country be regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority. So it doesn't surprise me that the operators of those religious websites are more likely to find themselves hosting malicious material; in some cases the entire website is clearly malicious in intent, since it attempts to persuade people of things for which a great deal of evidence exists that they are untrue.

    --
    From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
    1. Re:Porn sites are more ethical, anyway by CSMoran · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Finally, I'd say many religious websites are probably made by amateurs and hence are easily exploitable by third parties to serve malware.

      --
      Every end has half a stick.
    2. Re:Porn sites are more ethical, anyway by CFD339 · · Score: 2

      Fantastic post. I agree with most of what you say - although I think the vulnerability of many of the least mainstream religions has a lot to do with the fact that they're running websites put up on the cheap, built and managed by amateurs. These sites are just more vulnerable than sites built and run by professional web site designers and administrators.

      --
      The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
  27. Old joke by Kupfernigk · · Score: 2
    Told me by an Israeli...

    An Englishman, an American and an Israeli are discussing the cost of living in their countries. The Englishman says "I earn $50000 a year and it costs me $50000 to live, so I'm doing OK". The American says "I earn $100000 a year and the cost of living is $50000." The Englishman says "What do you do with the other $50000?" The American says "It's a free country, I can do what I like."

    The Israeli says "Well, my income is $10000 a year and the cost of living is $50000 a year". The American says "How does that work?" The Israeli says "It's a free country, I can do what I like."

    --
    From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
  28. No, it isn't by Kupfernigk · · Score: 5, Informative

    It has been independent since 1981. Which coincidentally was the year it started to degenerate.

    --
    From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
  29. Re:amazing summary by michelcolman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The article itself is pretty amazing too.

    On Monday at six o’clock, I was awakened by the sound of a bullhorn
    (...)
    and for fourteen hours outside in the sun, I sat handcuffed without food or water. We got water around noon.
    (...)
    They (...) took me to Belize City. Fortunately we had copies. We showed up later at the police station with the copies. Even then it was difficult to get out.

    Fourteen hours between six in the morning and noon? Being locked up in the police station first, and then showing up at the station afterwards?

    I am confused...

  30. This is right on track by CFD339 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I was thinking exactly the same thing as I read Kupfernigk response. The sites which are least professionally built and maintained are most vulnerable to outsiders planting malware. Many of the less mainstream religious sites fall into this category of low technical management and are thus vulnerable.

    Porn, being a huge industry, seems to get the attention of more skilled developers and administrators (if not actors and camera people). While surely some are not, and those will be vulnerable, I think most of the porn sites that are malware laden fall into the category of 'honeypots' with either fake or real porn placed with the deliberate goal of being a malware vector.

    --
    The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
  31. Re:amazing summary by Theophany · · Score: 2

    Probably because you didn't RTFA properly?

    Awoken at 16, handcuffed outside the building for 14 hours, the first 6 of which he went without water. They were all taken to the police station after the search. It's crappy writing, but the guy's a programmer, not a Pulitzer prize winner.

    What I find more incredible is the fact that he believed that this kind of shit wouldn't happen in somewhere like Belize...

  32. Re:amazing summary by michelcolman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I did read it properly, he just didn't write it properly. Everything I quoted, was copied and pasted directly from the article. He did say they were without food and water for fourteen hours and they got water around noon. And the bit about being taken to Belize City (in handcuffs? Incarcerated?) only to show up later with copies of his licenses (free to go back to get those after all?) is pretty unclear as well. Crappy writing indeed, but anyway, I guess the big picture is clear enough.

  33. Re:amazing summary by Theophany · · Score: 2

    Well, "for fourteen hours outside in the sun, I sat handcuffed without food or water" isn't the same as "they were without food and water for fourteen hours."

    All this pedantry is making me thirsty...

  34. Re:Darn... by Mister+Whirly · · Score: 3, Informative

    They don't mess with tourists - that is a good chunk of their income. Belize is perfectly safe if you are visiting, and don't become embroilled in local politics. I know plenty of people who have vacationed there and have said it was awesome.

    --
    "But this one goes to 11!"
  35. Udopeian Paradise by SuperKendall · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Actually, Belize is amazing and safe.

    True police states are indeed safe and lovely to visit, for those who do not have to live in them or fear being able to leave ever.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  36. They didn't "kill his dog" by V.+P.+Winterbuttocks · · Score: 3, Informative

    They killed one of his eleven dogs (three of which attacked them). They also arrested three of his four security guards for not having the proper license to work as private security in Belize.

    But hey, the more I read about the guy, the more I dislike him.

    He created the McAfee antivirus, which alone is enough to take pleasure in his misfortune.

    He has a 17-year-old girlfriend. Don't get me wrong. I think it's perfectly okay for a 66-year-old guy to have a 17-year-old girlfriend, as long as 66-year-old guy is me, when I'm 66.

    He fled the U.S., tried to renounce his citizenship, etc. etc. etc. to escape from 5 civil suits that have been brought against him.

    He moved to some third-world tax haven country where he thought the U.S. wouldn't be able to reach him (or his money).

    He greased a few palms like he was supposed to do, then he got uppity and decided he wasn't going to give this one gentleman any money because, you know, he'd already given a million dollars to the police department.

    He has ELEVEN dogs. In most cities in the U.S., that itself would be illegal. He hired four security guards, 3 of whom were unlicensed.

    And then when the shit hit the fan, he started crying to the American Embassy to get rescued. Excuse me? Is he an American citizen or isn't he?

    --
    I'm the real Vorokrytin P. Winterbuttocks.