By Denise Ross

Marc Tobias, longtime close friend and adviser to former Gov. and US Rep. Bill Janklow, showed up on a TODAY Show segment today, talking about how most of our house locks are not really locks. (The car that Janklow was driving when he had his career-ending traffic crash in 2003 was registered to Tobias.)

But there’s more. First, here’s the TODAY Show video:

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Meanwhile, when I did a Google search to make sure I remembered how to spell his name (I did), I came across a slew of online items about Tobias, including his own official site. (The official site doesn’t say, but last I knew Tobias operated out of Sioux Falls.) Then there’s something titled “The Marc Tobias Effect,” as his work exposing security weaknesses is at the center of a controversy in the lock world.

Most interesting, though, was this recent article in Wired magazine. (Hoghouse Blog recommends.)

Lock-breaking is equal parts art and science. So is the ability to royally piss people off. Tobias is a veritable da Vinci at both endeavors. His Web site’s streaming video of prepubescent kids gleefully opening gun locks has won him no points with mothers or locksmiths …

But to Tobias, pissing off The Man isn’t the point, not entirely. Nor is it, entirely, to make himself famous or rich—not that he’s allergic to either outcome. … Tobias thinks of himself as a humble public servant.

…

(W)here Tobias sees a splendid expression of First Amendment rights, locksmiths and security companies see a criminal finishing school.

Like I said, controversy.

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