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I just got meta-copied
- zrgiu 15y agosorry for hijacking your topic but, why are my comments hidden by default ?
- zhang_rui 15y agoAuthor is actually Tianfang Li. As an entrepreneur he is famous in China. I did not think he would have time to make other projects.
- geuis 15y agoThe author hasn't included a link to the "copy factory" website. I'm curious about what that link is, because I have noticed that Chrome will show favicons despite no favicon.ico being equipped on a site. I have seen this mainly has happened on local apps where I know for certain I am not serving one yet one shows up. I would like to check the "copy factory" site to see if they aren't defining one either, and if the author is simply seeing an artifact from his browser.
- richchan 15y agolink to "copy factory": http://shanzhaioff.com/ http://shanzhaioff.com/
- yahelc 15y agoAnd, thus, http://shanzhaioff.com/favicon.ico http://shanzhaioff.com/favicon.ico
- geuis 15y agoThanks for the link. The first thing I notice is that while the icons visually are similar, they are of two different sizes. Indeed, the favicon.ico from the "ripoff" site is 32x32 vs the "original" which is 16x16. Further, the larger image shows more detail in the gradients and edges than does the smaller. When I resize the larger to 16x16 pixels, it looks similar but still features slightly different colors than the "original". Finally, when I resize the "original" 16x16 up to 32x32, it lacks the pixel clarity of the "ripoff". It seems obvious that the "ripoff" icon wasn't made from the "original" as is being claimed.
- sbayless 15y agoI don't think the claim was that the 'ripoff' icon was literally copied from the original, just that the concept for the site - right down to the concept for the favicon - were copied. But I salute your sleuthing, none-the-less.
- sien 15y agoIs there a Chinese copy of HN?
- duck 15y agoNot a "clone", but there is an India version and it seems to still be active: http://hackernews.in http://hackernews.in HN Thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1908893 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1908893
- pbhjpbhj 15y agoI wonder if all these companies are really negatively impacting creativity and inventiveness?
- Shenglong 15y agoWhat's the consensus in protecting yourself from getting copied in China? Launch there first?
- shantanubala 15y agoThe short answer seems to be: you can't protect yourself, it's a waste of time and money trying, and just keep making your stuff the best it can be for the audience you want. Unless your target audience is in China, don't worry about China until you're Google (and even still, don't worry too much about China). Or at least that seems the best strategy for a startup that's short on time and cash.
- rtg 15y agoCuriously, even Apple wasn't able to make headway in fighting counterfeit products. [1] "China's government declined to investigate a facility ... that was manufacturing imitation Apple laptops because it threatened local jobs ... A different arm of China's government scrapped plans for a raid on an electronics mall in the Guangdong province because it could have driven away shoppers, the cable says." [1] http://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/30/apples-anti-counterfeiting-efforts-in-asia-hampered-by-uncooperative-authorities/ http://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/30/apples-anti-counterfeiti...
- sjs 15y agoIf you're good enough nobody will take as much care in creating a copy as the you did the original.
- Volpe 15y agoI'm curious as to where the line between 'copying' and 'competition' is drawn. Generally, chinese companies that 'steal ideas' (if you subscribe to such a notion). Release to a chinese market, that you don't (and likely never will) have access to. So what are you protecting against?
- Joakal 15y agoBrands and easy-to-copy stuff mostly: http://www.businessinsider.com/china-fake-stores-2011-8?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/china-fake-stores-2011-8?op=1
- vynch 15y agohaha this is one of the reasons I stick to iOS apps!!
- Groxx 15y agoYeah, there are no clones on there! Ever since they required that applications not be clones of each other, there's only ever been one fart app! Heaven, thy name is App Store. Thou art a pantheon of deduplication.
- vynch 15y agoa)It takes a lot of time and technical skill to clone a good iOS app..and even if you are successful you have to go through the Apple Developer Program(which is annoying but it helps) and there are legal implications. b) yeah fart apps are easy to make...but try cloning a good app like angry birds or talking tom cat! c) if you really wanna clone and make money your best bet would be to clone as fast as possible and clone a lot of apps.You'd much rather just stick to rails apps (heroku ftw!) d) and lastly there are people who can clone even the best iOS apps very quickly...but with that kind of technical skill also comes creativity and integrity!
- Groxx 15y agoThere are dozens of clones of angry birds. Some of them as good or possibly better. And we aren't talking about clones of polished products here, we're talking about a site that admittedly took a 2.5 hours to make. The comparison to a fart app (though their site is vastly more useful, and a unique idea AFAIK) is apt. Lets take something with a bit less stigma. Background-changing apps. There are, what, 100+ of them? Probably more? Lots of them even share some backgrounds, which is visible if you just skim a dozen from the app store's images. And almost every single one has probably paid back the dev time it took to make, if not through sales then through ads.
- vynch 15y ago> And we aren't talking about clones of polished products here. Well when I said "This is why I stick to iOS apps" I was actually referring to the cloning of popular websites like quora,reddit etc.I am sorry if I did not make that very clear. >Lets take something with a bit less stigma.,Background-changing apps. There are, what, 100+ of them? Why take such an example when I have clearly agreed that it very easy to clone such apps. > There are dozens of clones of angry birds. Some of them as good or possibly better. Hmm...now that makes me think !!
- jackjun 15y agoThe webapp seem to be built using Twitter Bootstrap and Heroku. I would have thought Chinese programmers who resort to copying would be using older technology.
- meric 15y agoDon't feel too bad, you spent a mere 2.5 hours, and as a result a website that took probably 10 times that effort popped up. You lose the personal gain from the project, but the valued created as a result of 150 minutes of work is very efficient!
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- moonlighter 15y agoSomething is a bit fishy with that favicon. The version used by the 'rippers' doesn't use transparency, whereas Tian's favicon does have one. That favicon source (there are probably others): http://www.veryicon.com/icons/system/free-business/copy-4.html http://www.veryicon.com/icons/system/free-business/copy-4.ht...
- sjs 15y agoIt's on the first or second page of icons in a Google image search for "copy icon" with size set to icon. http://www.google.ca/search?q=copy+icon#um=1&hl=en&tbs=isz:i&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=copy+icon&oq=copy+icon&aq=f&aqi=g7g-m3&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=3283l3730l2l3911l5l4l0l0l0l0l255l698l1.1.2l4l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=28bbe6c6131b6901 http://www.google.ca/search?q=copy+icon#um=1&hl=en&t...
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- caishuhua0 15y agolook look!!
- softbuilder 15y agoIn a country with a billion people, even if you're one in a million, there's still 1000 people just like you.
- forcefsck 15y agoThis is my QotD today.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- insraq 15y agoWell as far as I know, the 'rippers' claimed by author has existed for a while now. This tweet is posted on Jul. 16 (http://www.weibo.com/1655212723/l4EWMiVcl http://www.weibo.com/1655212723/l4EWMiVcl ) while the author's post is posted on Aug. 30. So I would say this is just a coincident rather than a rip-off. And I believe the author should spend a little more time doing some research before accusing the wrong person.
- jackjun 15y agoCoincidence... really? I know the favicon is a common property and all but what are the chances two sites with similar ideas ends up using the one?
- ZoFreX 15y ago> what are the chances two sites with similar ideas ends up using the one? Pretty high if your websites are both about copying and that icon is high in the Google results for "free copy icon".
- tlrobinson 15y agoI'd like to see them list each other as copies of themselves.
- ig1 15y agoI feel a bit disappoint that this has got so many votes on HN, when a simple Google image search shows that the icon in question is a simply a freely licensed image produced by FreeIconsWeb that turns up when you search for "copy icon". I'm guessing the author of this article knew that (presumably that's where he got it from) but chose to omit that rather critical point from his post to make it seem more favourable to himself. Link to original image: http://www.freeiconsweb.com/Icons-show/Freeicons/Copy.png http://www.freeiconsweb.com/Icons-show/Freeicons/Copy.png
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- moe 15y agoYour pedantry seems out of place considering the self-ironic tone of the article. It's not like the author was whining and pointing fingers, he's obviously taking it with humor.
- kaifulee 15y agoYou are accusing the op of accusing another person of copying a site designed to let one person accuse another. I find that funny, hence the upvote.