X6 Key Cutter

[lockdecoders]

Thanks Pinky. Well said.

 

The tale of the fake Rolex.

By Victor Southern.

Once upon a time there was a wonderful firm of Swiss watch-makers. So skilled were they that their watches became a symbol for quality. Rolex! Who has not heard of them? Who has not desired one? So, it came to pass that in a land in East men who had not those skills found a way to make watches that looked like the wonderful Rolex. The mechanisms were rougher and cheaper, the tick was louder, the hands moved erratically, the “gold” plate wore off but still the trademark Rolex would be on a wrist. “See my Rolex” you could say and “by the way can you tell me the right time?” A rusty “Bolex”, not a trusty Rolex.

 

So a giant shadow industry exists producing fake watches, fake pharmaceuticals, fake designer clothing, fake sunglasses, fake diamonds, fake DVDs, fake software – an industry of theft, an industry that goes so far as to make fake pharmaceuticals to endanger lives.

Now let us consider the damage that this dishonesty causes. Let us look at our own industry of key-making & lock repairing. 14 years ago I wrote an article that was printed in Keyways in which I forecast that most locksmith shops would eventually be unable to make car keys at all and all such work would end up with a limited number of specialists. I was partly wrong in that as I had simply not taken into account the enormous effort and skill that would be put into solving these problems by many firms world-wide. You know these names – AD900, Megacopy, ZedBull, Silca, Miracle, MiraClone, Abritus, Bianchi and many other others. Hundreds and hundreds of people have spent a cumulative two or three thousand years developing software and hardware to enable you to make car keys. The cost of development is staggering. In our case, Lockdecoders Ltd, we have spent from 2004 to 2013 in development and never made a penny from it all before 2011. Even today we spend more than a half of our collective time on development, on technical back-up, on ordering spares and consumables, on training, on factory visits. Apart from that we spend thousands of Pounds annually on buying new locks and lock-sets so that we can keep up to date with trends. And we are just one of the original developers in the field.

 

Very simply, the fake pharmaceuticals or rip-off medicines harm the drug research industry – why do colossally expensive research if everyone can copy it for nothing? You hear that antibiotics are becoming less effective and new methods of killing bacteria must be developed. No financial incentive – no new drugs. In twenty years time your children or grandchildren could be dying of diseases which today are still treatable. Nobody at all wants to see that happen.

It is pretty easy to understand the end cost to us all of pharmaceutical pirating. Perhaps it is less easy to visualise the effects of the big Chinese trade in rip-off locksmith machines and tools. Let me try to explain.

 

Although none of us in the field of locksmith supply are giants like “Big Pharma” we still have to do the investment of time, money and skills to keep up with the changing technical demands. If we cannot enjoy an eventual return on that investment we will stop new development, eventually fade way and in twenty years time no locksmith will be able to make a car key. It is that simple.

Even the buyer of the fake will not really profit by his “saving”. He will not get the technical back-up, he will not find local spares [or perhaps any spares], he will have no source for training. Many purchasers of replicas have found they cannot be updated or even that an attempt to take advantage of the real manufacturers updates wipes the fake device clean. And, inevitably the quality, performance and durability of the rip-off will be much lower than the original. More to come – the cheap products suddenly become available to all – established locksmiths and key cutters, new entrants, professional thieves and hobbyists. So when you pay a Chinese firm for their rip-off you help them get close to someone who will take your established business away. Nobody is helped in the long run by people popping up on trade forums and boasting of their fake equipment and accusing respectable manufacturers of being rip-off merchants. Who is really ripping people off?

Particularly foolish are those that think they can make a killing by importing these fakes in some quantity for resale. They fail to realise that anyone else can compete with them by doing their own importing. Even worse their intended customers can import the same equipment at the same price directly and cut out the profit that the budding entrepreneur thought to make.

 

Many trade forums are now blocking any discussion of Chinese copies as the forum administrators are becoming aware that otherwise they are conniving in the theft of intellectual property and proprietary designs.

You may have noticed that the Chinese sites offering “genuine” car keys and remotes have suddenly become quiet and removed such products altogether. The car manufacturers are going for their throats. Have you had the guy who comes in for you to cut or programme the key he bought on eBay? Lots of fun isn’t it? How do you feel about sites that offer to sell bump keys and picks to the public – even videos on lock –picking? It is actually a criminal offence to carry burglary tools but who is enforcing the law on those suppliers?

 

I have digressed a bit from the main thrust of my article but in reality it is all one problem. You and we are trying to make an honest and ethical living. We have that common interest. Just don't pay crooks any money.

[decker]

Thanks Pinky. Well said.

 

Many trade forums are now blocking any discussion of Chinese copies as the forum administrators are becoming aware that otherwise they are conniving in the theft of intellectual property and proprietary designs.

You may have noticed that the Chinese sites offering “genuine” car keys and remotes have suddenly become quiet and removed such products altogether. The car manufacturers are going for their throats. Have you had the guy who comes in for you to cut or programme the key he bought on eBay? Lots of fun isn’t it? How do you feel about sites that offer to sell bump keys and picks to the public – even videos on lock –picking? It is actually a criminal offence to carry burglary tools but who is enforcing the law on those suppliers?

 

I have digressed a bit from the main thrust of my article but in reality it is all one problem. You and we are trying to make an honest and ethical living. We have that common interest. Just don't pay crooks any money.

 

Well said Peter. This thread should dissapear. Genuine suppliers and members are not allowed to peddle their wares on this and other forums, but it seems Chinese copy merchandise gets a free ride. This thread is doing nothing apart from encouraging members especialy new potential car key programmers / cutters to buy counterfiet products. It is only long term harming this trade. please delete this and any other counterfeit machinery threads.

[lockdecoders]

I wouldn't like to see this deleted.

[hibsjo(SCO)]

i disagree

every body out there is copying something they shouldnt be copying(if you were to listen to the ORIGINAL manufacturer/owner)

I believe they call it brand protection(sorry for swearing)

ethics are noble but nobility doesnt pay the bills.....

some examples

security keys cut on easie entries

car keys programmed on whatever machine

repairing "fake ugg boots"

fitting batteries into fake rolexs

using universal keys cos the blank fits.......

the list goes on and on

it doesnt make it right and there is always going to be some"poor" sole who has done "all the work" only for someone to come along and rape them

lifes tuff get on with it!

to dismiss this thread and delete it is playing into "big brothers" hands(and i would just start another anyway cos im like that)

my thoughts

incoming

carry on!

[autolock]

If starting out and you have a choice of paying £15000 for a tester with all software,or £200 for a Chinese one that will do say 70 percent of the original it's a easy choice ,and I've bought all the original equipment plus dealer tools ,and without mentioning names some of the tester companies are not that squeaky clean when it comes to copying software

[Lee]

Well said Peter. This thread should dissapear. Genuine suppliers and members are not allowed to peddle their wares on this and other forums, but it seems Chinese copy merchandise gets a free ride. This thread is doing nothing apart from encouraging members especialy new potential car key programmers / cutters to buy counterfiet products. It is only long term harming this trade. please delete this and any other counterfeit machinery threads.

 

I totally disagree with that Decker. at no point has this thread given links to a supplier of fakery, back up or support its actually been quite a good campaign & advert for SKS & Lockdecoders with professionalism in their replies its an open discussion & I agree with Joe to a degree.

 

Pete & I have a fairly good relationship he knows as do any other suppliers or members that I am only a phone call away & if a topic causes any personal infringements or is liable or offensively targeting any individual I will remove it without hesitation usually whilst I'm talking to them. It rare that we ever remove topics theres usually no need as the greater common sense prevails on most occasions.

 

Lee

[keymaker]

This industry knows full well that copies of original equipment will always be available. Whether distributors of these items choose to accept them as "legal" or otherwise is their decision. To protect a patent or copyright is very complex and costly, so the copiers sometimes chance it and accept the consequences. Often by the time any legal action is taken, the item is out there, and the damage is done, with the perpetrators long gone. Many reputable suppliers of car keys and remotes sell copies, and the industry accepts this, citing the absence of a badge as making it "legal". Renault cards are a prime example. The reason copies of these are rife, is because the dealers charge too much. Simple answer is make them cheaper and kill the copies. Easier said than done, although greed will always be the driving force behind fakes. The more copies bought, the more expensive the originals are, and so it goes on and on and on.....To sum up, greed is the winner. Sad, but true.

[rapidlocks]

And their of course lies the problem with copy kit , no valid support , limited functions with slim to no chance of getting the missing functions , repairs should anything fail and so on , resulting in the unavoidable having to buy an original machine to get all this and cover your jobs , thus buy cheap buy twice.

 

the chinese wholesalers and resellers are great at promising support and updates , though sadly these promises are often empty ones .

 

you cant put a value on updates , good support and back up as in what we do its priceless.

[Mick Friend]

As a Publisher of a magazine and owner of a forum - I see all the points made and I think as a discussion it has a value - as for the ethics the whole world is crazy -every day you read of someone on the take- from politicians down to sports stars - it seems the country is fuelled by greed. I have not knowingly used a pirated anything, If I want to try software I get trial copies but that is rare I have most stuff I need now. I appreciate the development costs in new equipment and to my mind the developers should be able to put in a ghost programme that destroys it if copied and not used in the machine it is designed for- I just bought a new desktop and I had to call Microsoft to re-install 3 of the programmes and I had used up my allowance on the old machine and the laptop. I had to give details etc and they logged it.

But as has been said when I owned a shop and provided customers with a secure un-copyable key to protect their factory/B&B/ school and someone adapted a blank 'to fit' I got upty just for the sake of £2 they destroyed the customers security - I had one factory have the cleaner get a key cloned the week before she was sacked - she spent 2 months going back and helping herself before they waited for the 'intruder' one night. Blamed me for providing a copy (which I hadn't) and I lost the customer.