YouTuber McNally has garnered a following showing off his lockpicking skills while pointing out the flaws in various locks. However, he got into trouble recently with a lock company after uploading a video bypassing one of their products. After McNally showcased himself bypassing a lock by Proven Locks, the company commented on his page saying that the video was edited and the lock was tampered with before McNally showed off his skill. When the company filed a lawsuit against McNally, the YouTuber struck back.
McNally uploaded a new video to his social media with the caption “They called me out…now they’re suing me. Proven Locks.” Wearing a GoPro camera, McNally showed a first person video of him walking to his mailbox, opening up a package containing a brand new Proven Lock, testing the lock to make sure it worked, chugging down a can of Liquid Death sparkling water, using scissors to create a thin shim from the now-empty can, and then bypassing the lock. The entire video was less than three minutes long.
The video garnered volumes of people voicing their support in the comments:
“Last I knew, it wasn’t illegal to test a product, or do a box opening, or give a product review. The judge will have a laugh at this one.”
“They do realize all he has to do is show up in court with a can and one of their locks to prove his point?”
“The real flex is downing that whole can at once.”
“Be sure to counter-sue for defamation before you go to court, that way, when you do it again in front of the judge and jury that they want to drag you in front of, they can pay your attorney’s fees for you. “
“’He edits his videos to look good/better than he is.’ That’s an actual defamation/attack on character, I’d counter sue just to prove a point.”
Other commenters pointed out that Proven Locks should have seen this as an opportunity to improve their locks.
“The proper response from a security company would be ‘Thank you for bringing up this security issue. We would like to work with you in resolving this weakness.’”“It baffles me a company would take this approach rather than pay for you to consult them on a better product.”
Oddly, McNally did some consultation for Proven Locks in another video. Proven Locks apparently tried to contact McNally and uploaded a video showing them unsuccessfully shimmying their lock using McNally’s method to disprove him. McNally uploaded another video showing him shimmying the lock again in one take while also explaining to the lock company how they did it incorrectly, and even providing an explanation how their own lock works.
Like many of the commenters mentioned, this could be seen as a missed opportunity by Proven Locks. Many players in the security industry hire experts, many of them ex-convicts and thieves that where tried for burglary, to act as consultants to test out locks, security systems, alarms, and cameras to make them more secure and criminal-proof. Companies and even governments hire hackers to help test and bolster online security systems.
One of the best examples of turning a criminal activity into a career in security is the story of Frank Abagnale Jr., the subject of the movie Catch Me If You Can. Abagnale spent years of his adult life as a career con man and fraud, being able to forge fake I.D.s, phony checks, and other materials that allowed him to work as an attorney, airline pilot, and even a physician without valid credentials. After he was caught, the F.B.I. hired him as a consultant to catch other criminals like him, and Abagnale would become one of the most vetted and recommended names in the security industry.
Time will tell to see what Proven Locks does in their response to McNally, but hopefully it ends with both parties benefitting from one another away from the courts.
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