Almax and the PCC vs MCN

I thought you lot might be interested in this. Copied from VD.
________________

Complainant Name:
Adjudication - Mrs M. Simpson v Motor Cycle News
Clauses Noted: 1
Publication: Motor Cycle News
Complaint:

Mrs Maxine Simpson, Director of Almax Security Chains Limited,
complained to the Press Complaints Commission that two articles
headlined “Nine out of ten locks fail MCN test†and “Gone in 37
seconds†published in Motor Cycle News on 19 July 2006 were inaccurate
and misleading in breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Code of Practice.

The complaint was upheld.

The articles tested and rated the durability of a number of heavy duty
motorbike locks. The complainant said that the newspaper’s
presentation of the test – which was carried out by an ex-thief –
was misleading: while the text referred to the locks being “attacked
with hand toolsâ€, it did not make clear that different tools and
attack methods were used for each lock. For instance, the complainant
claimed that the larger locks – including the Almax Series III – had
been breached using a steel anvil, which greatly increased the level of
attack. The rating system – which relied heavily on the time taken to
breach the locks – was also misleading as a result. The complainant
said the misleading impression was augmented by the use of a photograph
of the Series III which implied that it had been breached using a
sledgehammer on a wooden sleeper.

The newspaper said that the purpose of the test was to recreate as far
as possible a real-life situation. The ex-thief was given instructions
to breach the chains in the fastest possible time using the hand tools
available. The availability of different hand tools was clearly stated
in the articles, which deliberately did not go into detail about the
specific tools used in order to avoid encouraging criminal activity. The
newspaper said that all the chains were tested under the same
conditions: with the chain and lock on the bike, with some of the chain
on the ground. The handheld anvil was one of the hand tools made
available to the ex-thief but was not used to intensify the severity of
the attack. The main article outlined that the ratings took “price and
usability†into account as well as the time taken to breach the chain.
The photograph was simply illustrative of the type of tools used to
breach the locks.


Decision:
Upheld

Adjudication:

While the Commission understood the newspaper’s reticence to reveal
precisely how each lock was breached for reasons of security, it
concluded that the presentation of the test conditions may have misled
readers. The reference to “hand tools†was vague, and the article
omitted the fact that an anvil was used in some cases and not in others.
It would have been appropriate in these circumstances for the newspaper
to give the complainant an opportunity to respond as a result of the
complaint to the PCC. This had not happened, however, and in the
Commission’s view, the result was a breach of Clause 1. In addition,
the Commission considered that the newspaper could have co-operated more
swiftly in dealing with its enquiries.

Report:
74 Adjudication issued 14/12/06

http://www.pcc.org.uk/cases/adjudica...ticle=NDI1Mw==

'Worth pointing out that only 1% of the 30,000 complaints that go in
front of the PCC panel are actually upheld. Clause 1 (breached) is
"Accuracy", quel surprize!

Bottom line is that they used an anvil with the 16mm (nmot only Almax I
may add) chains and didn't mention it or factor it into the results then
massaged the figures with "price and usability" to get the desired
result.

Little man wins, up yours MCN, next time do it properly.'
_______________________________


MCN in useless twats shocker...

--
Veggie Dave
UKRMHRC#2 BOTAFOF#08
IQ 18 FILMS http://www.iq18films.com
POST PRODUCTION http://www.iq18films.co.uk
Toxic Shock Syndrome Gets More Girls Than Me

 

Veggie Dave wrote:

So does the result mean that MCN have to publish an apology or what?

 

Apparently the have to publish something, and supposedly prominently,
but I don't think it has to be an actual apology.

--
Veggie Dave
UKRMHRC#2 BOTAFOF#08
IQ 18 FILMS http://www.iq18films.com
POST PRODUCTION http://www.iq18films.co.uk
Toxic Shock Syndrome Gets More Girls Than Me

 

Are there people who actually think that MCN is a serious fact based
newspaper?
I always thought MCN and Viz were created by the same people.

 

Link that works http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=NDI1Mw==

 

For some of its content yes.

Can you point me towards another weekly paper (which I can buy in most
supermarkets and petrol stations) where I can get results and reports
on the previous weekends races?

MCN is well known for using somewhat desperate measures when it comes
to finding things to report on but it'll remain on the shelves until a
serious competitor turns up. I know I can buy other magazines and
papers to get results but I can't get them easily and within 3 days of
the race taking place.

If a competitor came on the scene then it might spark some activity
from the MCN editorial team and an improvement in style and standards
but it's not going to happen so I'll stick with MCN instead of the
other option of nothing at all.

 

I'm also noting that it does mean the Almax was breached without exotic
tools. Considering the cost of the brand I wonder if it's worth the
extra.

 

snip>

I don't own a chain for locking my bike. I rely on the alarm,
immobiliser, steering lock and disc lock doing a good enough job. If
someone wants the bike badly enough to go through that lot then that's
ok because it's insured and it's only a bike at the end of it all.

Obviously I'd be a bit more conscious about security if I was
regularly parking the bike where it was likely to be nicked but I
wouldn't be using a 10R for commuting and whatever I was using would
be a lot less desirable. I can buy a suitable commuter for a lot less
than a whole package of quality security kit and secure it with a £10
chain and a padlock from work.

 

It was broken with the use of a lump hammer and a fucking anvil - not
the sort of thing thieves carry around, FFS!

--
Veggie Dave
UKRMHRC#2 BOTAFOF#08
IQ 18 FILMS http://www.iq18films.com
POST PRODUCTION http://www.iq18films.co.uk
Toxic Shock Syndrome Gets More Girls Than Me

 

That's great if they're trying to nick it at night and in a deserted
area. Any anti theft measure can be beaten but we have to be realistic
about what the average thief will attempt to nick or walk past and
look for an easier target.

MCN would probably do more for bike security if they printed bogus
figures suggesting that locks were more secure than they really are
rather than trying to make out that reasonable stuff is easily
defeated.

 

I suspect it's exactly the sort of thing professional T leaves carry
around, albeit a small anvil!

 

Yeah, but unless you're willing to get your van resprayed every week you're
making a target of yourself ... much better to go for the ubiquitous "white
Transit".

 

Mrs M Simpson...........

Doh!

 

This was precisely the MO used by some clown who operated out of a mews
just north of Putney Bridge, some years back.

Used to work for Wheelpower as a mechanic and they always had doubts
about his honesty.

Anyway, he had two or three vans, believe it or not, and RAC and AA
contracts to pick up broken down bikes. He just used to wander about the
capital, nicking bikes, and it took a long time before he was caught. I
unremember how many bikes he actually stole, but it was several hundred.

 

It's the same with PC magazines. It's not unusual for a favoured
manufacturer [1] to be called up after a test to be asked what can be done
to speed up the results because it didn't turn out as expected.

[1] One that spends a lot of advertising money.

 

Sir might be interested in the Internet and the related 'world wide
web', where I understand race results and reports are widely available.

 

Wrong again. The same attack was tried with a hand held anvil and the
attack failed.

The chain only failed when attacked by a full sized lump hammer (two
handed, don't know the weight) when the chain was put onto a proper
anvil - and even then, that required the chain to have enough slack to
be placed in position on the anvil, which in the attack I saw required
the chain to be loose and not attached to anything. Freeze spray was
also used in that attack, too, IIRC.

The article in MCN clearly stated that standard hand-held tools were
used in the attacks - a full sized anvil is not, under any definition, a
hand-held tool.

--
Veggie Dave
UKRMHRC#2 BOTAFOF#08
IQ 18 FILMS http://www.iq18films.com
POST PRODUCTION http://www.iq18films.co.uk
Toxic Shock Syndrome Gets More Girls Than Me

 

Won't cut an Almax, apparently.

--
Veggie Dave
UKRMHRC#2 BOTAFOF#08
IQ 18 FILMS http://www.iq18films.com
POST PRODUCTION http://www.iq18films.co.uk
Toxic Shock Syndrome Gets More Girls Than Me

 

Well I agree with that.

 

What a good idea. It'd work really well if I didn't work away from
home all week and could be sure of having access to the internet.
That's why I like to be able to buy a weekly paper and read what's
going on in the World of motorcycle racing.