I just got meta-copied

http://creatingev.com/post/9610965432/i-just-got-meta-copied

by d_r • 15 years ago

231 37 15 years ago

zhang_rui• 15 years ago

Author is actually Tianfang Li. As an entrepreneur he is famous in China. I did not think he would have time to make other projects.

geuis2• 15 years ago

The 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• 15 years ago

link to "copy factory": http://shanzhaioff.com/

yahelc• 15 years ago

And, thus, http://shanzhaioff.com/favicon.ico

geuis2• 15 years ago

Thanks 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.

sien• 15 years ago

Is there a Chinese copy of HN?

duck• 15 years ago

Not a "clone", but there is an India version and it seems to still be active: http://hackernews.in

HN Thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1908893

pbhjpbhj• 15 years ago

I wonder if all these companies are really negatively impacting creativity and inventiveness?

Shenglong• 15 years ago

What's the consensus in protecting yourself from getting copied in China? Launch there first?

shantanubala• 15 years ago

The 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• 15 years ago

Curiously, 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-counterfeiti...

sjs2• 15 years ago

If you're good enough nobody will take as much care in creating a copy as the you did the original.

Volpe• 15 years ago

I'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?

Joakal2• 15 years ago

Brands and easy-to-copy stuff mostly: http://www.businessinsider.com/china-fake-stores-2011-8?op=1

Joakal2• 15 years ago

It's tricky but the best way is to be a Chinese citizen in the country. This will avoid bribery laws of USA (China is more lax and society there encourages it), Chinese government officials will be supportive (Baidu > Google), assist government in finding anti-government people and more.

vynch3• 15 years ago

haha this is one of the reasons I stick to iOS apps!!

Groxx2• 15 years ago

Yeah, 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.

vynch3• 15 years ago

a)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!

jackjun3• 15 years ago

The 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.

evanwalsh• 15 years ago

The app at chao.heroku.com is not the copy.

jackjun3• 15 years ago

Oops, you are right. However, chao.heroku.com still seem to be made for China by a Chinese author.

meric• 15 years ago

Don'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!

moonlighter• 15 years ago

Something 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.ht...

sjs2• 15 years ago

It'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&t...

softbuilder• 15 years ago

In a country with a billion people, even if you're one in a million, there's still 1000 people just like you.

forcefsck• 15 years ago

This is my QotD today.

insraq• 15 years ago

Well 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 ) 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.

jackjun3• 15 years ago

Coincidence... 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?

ZoFreX2• 15 years 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• 15 years ago

I'd like to see them list each other as copies of themselves.

ig1• 15 years ago

I 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

moe• 15 years ago

Your 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• 15 years ago

You 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.

I just got meta-copied

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