10M People Watched a YouTuber Shim a Lock; the Lock Company Sued Him. Bad Idea. (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0179923220
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/10/31/1715249/10m-people-watched-a-youtuber-shim-a-lock-the-lock-company-sued-him-bad-idea
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/suing-a-popular-youtuber-who-shimmed-a-130-lock-what-could-possibly-go-wrong/
McNally's followers [1]then flooded the company with harassment . Proven dismissed the case in July and asked the court to seal the records. The company had initiated litigation over a video that all parties acknowledged was accurate. ArsTechnica adds:
> Judging from the number of times the lawsuit talks about 1) ridicule and 2) harassment, it seems like the case quickly became a personal one for Proven's owner and employees, who felt either mocked or threatened. That's understandable, but being mocked is not illegal and should never have led to a lawsuit or a copyright claim. As for online harassment, it remains a serious and unresolved issue, but launching a personal vendetta -- and on pretty flimsy legal grounds -- against McNally himself was patently unwise. (Doubly so given that McNally had a huge following and had already responded to DMCA takedowns by creating further videos on the subject; this wasn't someone who would simply be intimidated by a lawsuit.)
>
> In the end, Proven's lawsuit likely cost the company serious time and cash -- and generated little but bad publicity.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/suing-a-popular-youtuber-who-shimmed-a-130-lock-what-could-possibly-go-wrong/
Lock Picking Lawyer (Score:2)
I wonder if the LockPickingLawyer has any videos they can try sue him over.
Re:Lock Picking Lawyer (Score:4, Informative)
He reviewed this same lock awhile back and actually recommended it. But he picked it not shimmed it.
Re: (Score:3)
I guess with LPL they will not even try that kind of intimidation.
A message to Proven Industries (Score:2)
Please share what it feels like being proven (pun intended) a stupid bully in a court of law, and having to pay dearly for that privilege.
Another victim of the Streisand effect (Score:5, Informative)
It appears it's not well enough known in corporate circles. Proven Industries should not be selling any locks ever more...
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
Re:Another victim of the Streisand effect (Score:5, Insightful)
> there are no unpickable locks you can buy at a store
There are no unpickable locks. There. FTFY.
You can overcome some of the simplest attacks on locks. If you know what to buy and where to buy them. But not at consumer stores.
The shimming attack can be overcome with "captive key" locks. You insert and turn the key to withdraw a bolt or hasp. But you cannot remove the key until the door/hasp is closed. Then the key is rotated back to the lock position and the key may be removed. There are no spring operated bolts or pins that can be depressed with anything like a shim.
We have these at a (government) facility. And they are provided by a local locksmith. But if you walk in as a private citizen and describe what you want, or even provide them with their own part number, they just stare at you as if you are speaking Bantu.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, there are no unpickable locks... but there are brands which will make it tough for the lockpicker, which provide an effective deterrance. Pacific Locks comes to mind. No, they don't have the mindshare as Proven... but everything they make is quality, and effective against intrusion. Yes, someone can zip locks off with an angle grinder... but that is with everyone.
The problem is that a lot of companies have taken the cheap way out. That "high security" disk detainer lock might have its core not held
The Good E. Nuff effect. (Score:4, Interesting)
> It appears it's not well enough known in corporate circles.
McNally would likely say "Here, hold my Masterlock master rock."
As he and many others have proven long before DEFCON started hosting lock-picking challenges, absolute shit locks are pretty much the norm in the residential space. And most of the commercial space too.
> Proven Industries should not be selling any locks ever more.
If we held that standard across the board, the number of lockmakers left would number in the single digits. Masterlock would be facing war crimes if not for the fact they're so easily defeated..
Re: (Score:2)
That depends on the reason you think they should go out of business. That they sued an honest person over a true statement seems to me a good reason that they should go out of business. (Not that I think they will.)
Re: (Score:2)
Most locks exist to make it clear that unauthorized entry is B&E not just trespassing. The lock is just a nuisance, the main deterrent is the higher charge. The actual protection is the insurance.
LockPicking Streisand Effect! (Score:2)
Maybe a certain lawyer could have told them what this is!
Re: (Score:2)
Why? It would have cut into his billable hours.
Proven Industries could claim his advice advanced his own interests rather than theirs, but they'd need another lawyer for that and it would probably be throwing good money after bad.
wow... that video at tha Amazon locker (Score:3)
Wow, the video of McNally doing it all on the fly at the Amazon locker was mega.
Sometimes silence is the best answer (Score:5, Informative)
This all started when McNally's viewers linked to one Proven's videos where they made many claims about how secure their locks were. McNally quickly opened the lock using a shim from an aluminum can he cut on camera. Proven's response to that video was to claim the video was faked using edits and suing McNally. McNally's response was to film himself getting a brand new Proven lock from an Amazon drop box shipment and opening the lock without any video edits again using an aluminum can. Then Proven tried to call McNally's wife on her private number. So the next several videos from McNally is where he orders, opens, and picks many, many different models of Proven locks one after the other in a row.
Re: (Score:3)
The "Proven" Owner has proven he is not a very smart business man, and seems to have emotional regulation issues.
The funny thing is, the company started responding to this correctly - there was a video where they responded somewhat reasonably. I assume that was the office manager or someone else who actually has to interact with the real world sometimes.
Then dude goes stalking, suing and attempting to be insulting by calling people "liberal" (apparently he thinks MAGAts can't pick locks and wants to redu
Re: (Score:2)
> Then dude goes stalking, suing and attempting to be insulting by calling people "liberal" (apparently he thinks MAGAts can't pick locks and wants to reduce his potential customer base by over half, or something, I dunno).
Behaviour inspired by Elon?
Re: Sometimes silence is the best answer (Score:2)
Fun fact: i grew up in Finland many years ago, and Abloy was the standard lock just about everywhere. We used to laugh at American films where apartment door locks could be opened with a plastic card or easily picked.
Old news (Score:3)
Runkle did several videos on this case a few months ago, the first of which is [1]here [youtube.com].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItSrtE-GHCc
Filling lawsuit instead of fixing the problem (Score:3)
When did you think that was a good idea, pilgrim?
Smart company would fix problem and get YouTuber to test again; unless the problem isn’t fixable. Then you sre fucked and drawing attention via a lawsuit is a bad idea.
The world won't miss them (Score:1)
They were "mocked" and they responded by pulling out a gun (lawyers and courts)?! Anyone who would do that, deserves no mercy.
Proven's CEO harassed McNally's Wife (Score:2)
I think people should show him how insecure his locks truly are by using his felon head to open one.
Streisand Effect (Score:2)
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
Before anyone asks: (Score:5, Informative)
McNally does work with the Lock Picking Lawyer.