[Ian Clark]

I can't really see it being hard to make a plate.Coupleof exact dimension strips of plastic, some paint a stencil and some fixing spray

Up close it would look all fake and crap. From a distance and to the average pedestrian or other driver, there's no difference.

So taking away the more sinister stealing and exporting of vehicles. A car with fake plates is normally used in Armed robberies, drive by shootings, used as an escape vehicle. Hell there are even sad idiots who would drive your car past as many speed cameras as possible.

Ya know.. I can't stop someone seeing my plate in public but I sure as hell like to hide it online
Very simple to do and takes hardly any time...

Mind you ... It took me ages to blank out all the plates from the Birmingham Motorshow.. LOL

http://iclark.linuxdriven.net/Photos...004/index.html
http://iclark.linuxdriven.net/Photos...tos/index.html
http://iclark.linuxdriven.net/Photos...tos/index.html

[swamos]

Quote: Originally Posted by xplode

what's to stop someone from smashing your window to your house and get in and nick all your stuff when you're gone? not much, so might as well leave it unlocked and post signs saying "i'm gone, and i have all this cool stuff in here"?

the point of blanking out the plate on photos online is so as not to make it easier for the prospective cloner - it's not making it impossible, but why hand it to him on a plate? i think that's the general thought.

What is the difference between that, and someone seeing your car on the street??

[Kurtster]

Quote: Originally Posted by SoggyCornFlakes

That's fine - it's your right to choose, but please respect other members rights to choose too and not show their plates when posting pictures

Rights? Who doesn't respect other members rights to block their plates? You want to take the time to block your plates online? Be my guest. Good for you. I never said anyone was dumb to do so, I just said I can't see any good reason to bother and I asked people to help me understand why I should bother, with some real world examples (which I thank everyone for contributing). Lighten up dude.

[jasonfields007]

Quote: Originally Posted by maxsendq

Useful titbit, I was about to upgrade to PSP 8

Thanks.

I agree... 8 is a step in the wrong direction. stick with 7!

J

[Shamster]

This is a fairly moot point. Personally I blank out the no plates for other people in my pics. I can see the point about people cloning no plates but I think the chances of a MINI owner getting their car cloned are very low given all the different permutations available. Don't MINI have info somewhere which gives the odds of someone else having an identical MINI to yours?

And what about people who have their cars featured in car mags? Surely if you were that concerned about it you would tell the mags not to publish your number plate too - wouldn't it be just as easy for a cloner to go into WH Smith, have a look at some car mags and pick out what car he wants to clone? I have yet to see any issues of Autoexpress or Autocar where the reg numbers have been blanked out.

And I mentioned on the other thread how on the one hand we're all worried about having our cars cloned, yet on the other hand we're quite happy to say what our no plate is because it looks cool or different.

I will continue to blank out plates for other M2'ers in photo's but I don't think the problem is as potentially serious as it seems.

there - that should spark some further debate.

[Ian Clark]

Heh... for those who think it's pointless. Whatever. You have a right to your opinion and I respect it. Look.. it's this simple.

I will ALWAYS cover up someone elses Number Plate - THAT is simply RESPECT. Regardless of whether they care or not. It's showing respect to someone elses property that you are considering their security.

The whole car cloning business may not be as serious as people think. In fact I guess the chance of having your car cloned is extremely low... and there's still a high possibility of the plate being noted down on the street. Can't avoid that.

...but ya know what... It's Not a big deal to cover it online
Freehand selection tool > Outline the number > Effects > Blur > Gaussian Blur > Adjust to around 10 or 11and hit Enter

Actually... consider this. There are some people adding some pretty expensive mods to their cars. If they post lots of information on this mod and then they or someone else posts a pic of their car with registration showing... thats an invitation to those with possible "access" to various vehicle databases to find out where MINI with reg no. lives and arrange for the mod to be borrowed and not returned..

I'm not saying this is like a common issue or something but ya know.. I'd rather not put my MINI in that more risky position.

Am I cynical? I guess so but I'd rather know that the addition to my car is a little bit safer

[BruceK]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kurtster

Can somone explain in everyday terms what cloning a car means? Aside from the fact that cars have no DNA...do you mean I should be concerened that people with another IB MINI Cooper S with a Union Jack on its roof, might see my plate online, then craft (or have someone illegally create for them) an identical license plate, just so that they can break the law with someone elses (mine in this case) identity?
...

What may not be clear is the fundamental difference in the way license plates are treated in the UK vs. in the US. As you know, in the US, a pair of metal plates are stamped with a unique letter number sequence and issued by one of 50 state governments to register a car in a particular state (some states only issue a single rear plate). Move to a new state, and you'll get new license plates when you register your car there. But it is always a state government that completely controls the manufacture and distribution of license plates. There is very little chance of anyone outside of the government having the huge metal stamping presses necessary to counterfeit license plates. For criminals in this country, it is much easier just to steal a set of plates off a car and put them on another car to commit a crime, instead of considering the manufacture of false plates.

But in the UK, things are very different. First, license plates are relatively simple. Just black letters or numbers on a reflective piece of plastic with a clear plastic covering (of course there are strict government standards, but that's all they really are). Second, the government doesn't issue license plates themselves. All they issue is the registration number for each new car sold in the UK. That is done by single agency, the DLVA in Swansea, Wales. But it is up to each car dealer selling a new car to either make up the plates themselves (to government standards) or to deal with a nearby supplier like the local car parts store such as Halfords (sort of like "our" PepBoys or NAPA auto parts) who physically puts the black letters and numbers sandwiched between two pieces of plastic and thereby legally constructs a set of license plates to be fitted to the car for it's entire life. Since there are literally thousands and thousands of places in the UK that have the simple materials needed to physically build license plates, there is a much greater chance that someone will abuse the system and create a false set of number plates. Combine the opportunity with the fact there are a lot of speed cameras and CCTV surveillance cameras all throughout the UK looking at license plates and it is clear there is even more reason for a criminal to falsify a car's plates there. Hence the concern of "cloning".

[swamos]

Excellent reply Bruce. Make more sense now !

[Kurtster]

Agreed. Thanks for the details!

[Tonyt3]

There's just one fact in all this that stands out to me. The recent changes on making it harder for someone to get hold of a dodgy number plate effect only on kind of person. Honest people. Its not any harder for a crook to get a dodgy plate, its just harder for an honest person to get a real one. A crook will use whatever means is necessary, including bribary and counterfitting, force threats and contacts..... An honest person has to stand in line and present documents proving that they are honest and upstanding members of the public..... only then do they get a plate.

Its just like Tax. Paid by the honest people in society, avoided by the dishonest people. Accountants and the like....

[northandy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tony*t3

Its just like Tax. Paid by the honest people in society, avoided by the dishonest people. Accountants and the like....

I'm an accountant and I wouldnt say I was dishonest....

[maxsendq]

Oooooooo, moral question. Do you pay what the government thinks you should, or do you pay what the letter of the law says.

Personally I am all for accountants, and would like to take this opportunity to say hi to my accountant brother

[Tonyt3]

OK, the accountant think was supposed to be a joke, but put it this way, if you want to 'avoid' paying your tax, you get help from a 'good' accountant. If you know you're guilty of a crime, you get the best lawyer you can afford. If you want to 'earn' a living without actually doing any work, you become an estate agent. If you want to give your life for fighting a war in a distant land for someone you don't know, become a British soldier....

My point in my original post is though that only the 'honest majority' of people will be affected by this law change. Yes, it is harder for honest people to get a number plate. It hasn't stopped criminals stealing cars or driving around uninsured. Only 'honest people' are effected by the congestion charge, only 'honest people' get speeding fines, only 'honest people' lose their lively hood by getting 12 points on their license, or pay higher premiums because of uninsured drivers..... its cheaper to pay the £30 fine your average spotty youth who gets stopped in their uninsured Nova gets than it is for them to pay the monthly insurance bill..... another one is its cheaper to pay the on the spot £10 fine for fare dodging than actually pay the darn fare... as I said, 'honest people' get punished by the government, those that aren't so honest are excluded.

How did this get on to politics anyway? Sorry....

[cook1e]

Quote: Originally Posted by MINILLA

Non - techies use the MUD method!

Which has the added benefit of being an anti Gatso device

[northandy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tony*t3

OK, the accountant think was supposed to be a joke, but put it this way, if you want to 'avoid' paying your tax, you get help from a 'good' accountant. If you know you're guilty of a crime, you get the best lawyer you can afford. If you want to 'earn' a living without actually doing any work, you become an estate agent. If you want to give your life for fighting a war in a distant land for someone you don't know, become a British soldier....

My point in my original post is though that only the 'honest majority' of people will be affected by this law change. Yes, it is harder for honest people to get a number plate. It hasn't stopped criminals stealing cars or driving around uninsured. Only 'honest people' are effected by the congestion charge, only 'honest people' get speeding fines, only 'honest people' lose their lively hood by getting 12 points on their license, or pay higher premiums because of uninsured drivers..... its cheaper to pay the £30 fine your average spotty youth who gets stopped in their uninsured Nova gets than it is for them to pay the monthly insurance bill..... another one is its cheaper to pay the on the spot £10 fine for fare dodging than actually pay the darn fare... as I said, 'honest people' get punished by the government, those that aren't so honest are excluded.

How did this get on to politics anyway? Sorry....

likewise I was just defending the profession that pays for my Mini !!!....

Its true about the other stuff, how many ringers buy there plates at halfords ?, very few !.... I for one am all for stopping crime at its source and not drowning law abiding people in stupid rules that make our lives difficult....

[laura f]

It's easy a pie to make your own number plates, you buy your blank plates, stick letters to them, put the top cover on & voila one set of registration plates, dead easy. (Have made these for work for legit purposes btw)

[Vron]

I would like to think anyone who chooses a Mini as their car is Law abiding but there will always be scumbags out there

However, a friend of mine in Northern Ireland had a Golf GTI and went to get in it and the remote didn't work - he had by chance come across a clone of his own car in the same car park as him . Obviously he called the police and they got the occupants when they returned. Lock 'em up and throw away the key - or worse if I was Prime Minister.