Longse Rips Off Hikvision
By IPVM Team, Published Oct 19, 2016, 08:28am EDTLongse is on the attack, and now they are targeting Hikvision.
Evidently not content just to rip off Milestone and Video Insight, Longse has now added Hikvision to their hit list.
They are building a pretty powerful offering off the back of their competitors. Inside, we examine the details of what Longse is doing, how this helps them competitively and why this is unethical.
Bragging Longse
Longse is excited to announce their new features, including a 'unique' web interface, pay close attention to the screenshots they include below:
Not only is Longse touting that 'unique' interface, they have added in Hikvision's 'private' protocol claiming deep integration:
UI Theft
The following images show examples from a Hikvision camera (left) and a recent (October 2016) Longse camera (right):
Login page is nearly identical, other than Hikvision logo removed:
Live view is very similar, Longse has replaced "Hikvision" logo with an image that just says "IPCamera":
The configuration mode shows the same icons and tree as Hikvision, but has slightly different layout and wording in individual areas:
The Longse camera has no Longse branding anywhere in the UI, in fact the copyright claim (ironic) is to "HS", most likely an abbreviation for HeroSpeed, the brand Longse's VMS uses. To users of Hikvision cameras, the Longse UI will seem familiar, which surely was Longse's intention.
Longse Cameras Mimic Hikvision NVR Protocol
We tested Longse's claim of Hikvision NVR support and found that it worked as claimed. Our Longse camera connected to the Hikvision NVR on the first try, as shown below:
Not Endorsed By Hikvision
According to sources close to the company, Hikvision has not authorized Longse's use of their UI elements or NVR protocol. While Hikvision does publish various SDK's for their products, what Longse has done does not utilize standard SDKs, and is not a supported application.
Buyers of Longse product should be aware that Hikvision may change the auto-discovery protocol to block Longse cameras in the future, though they could still connect via ONVIF.
No Response From Longse
[link no longer available]
We emailed the owner of Longse (Jim Quan, [link no longer available]qsj@qq.com) [link no longer available] multiple times asking for comment but did not receive any response.
Damaging To Hikvision
Longse's actions stand to negatively impact Hikvision, potentially significantly given Longse's increasing scale. If the cameras are close to Hikvision's, users will be attracted to Longse's lower prices (albeit with much less support, product availability, brand, etc.). If the cameras do not live up to expectations, users unfamiliar with Hikvision may believe that connectivity issues with NVR's, or general reliability issues are the fault of the Hikvision NVR or Hikvision protocol.
With Longse's law breaking and industry leading spam campaign plus ripping off Hikvision, Milestone and Video Insight, they now offer a very compelling but highly unethical solution.
5 reports cite this report:
Comments (55)
[IPVM note: poster is from Dahua]
#Hilarious
Ripping off GUI's, especially Hikvisions is nothing new. While not this flagrant, the Uniview HDMI GUI is extremely similar to Hikvisions.
But this one here is crazy, they didnt even try to change it up a little. WOW!!
[Personal note: I am from Dahua.]
There are a handful of us who weren't banned. #NotAConspiracy
In that pic Jim Quan is blatantly ripping off the Fonz, or hitchhiking for a ride from the courthouse.
Imitation or Innovation?
LMFAO!!! So now we have the Chinese ripping off the Chinese. Be Prepared for flagellation.
FYI, I don't know these Dahua dudes. I'm just a Sales Engineer for Dahua OEM products.
Seriously though, is the Chinese Communist Party losing their touch or something? Hell, Hikvision has the full weight of the party to bring down on this BS. If there were any a time where using it would bring no complaints from us, this is EXACTLY that time. Even a totalitarian government is allowed to openly deal with people who steal THEIR intellectual property as blatantly as Longse did. Maybe Hikvision really doesn't work for the Comm... no, wait. Let's not go THAT far!
The worst part is that my mom's Canto too... *facepalm* c'mon homeland, can we NOT try and outpirate each other?! I mean hell, I understand ripping off overpriced women's fashion pieces, but this is preeeetty low. Bolder than some cockroaches that's for sure. That's like staring the guy with the can of Raid in the eyes saying, "I dare you!" I mean if you were going to rip off something, might as well rip off the high end and steal the interface off that new Meraki!
On the one hand, Longse's antics are bad for all of us because more race to the bottom crap. On the other, it's nice to see Hikvision have a taste of the effects of what it's like having successfully turned our industry into a s***show.
Go Ahead HIKVISION show Longsee what a 5 billion dollar War Chest can do to a rip off artist.....
Any chance they're just OEMing Hik?
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword :)
[Note: Poster is Vivotek Distributor]
I wonder why the IPVM of so much emphasis to Chinese manufacturers.
price, price, price ... and the quality ??
Why not talk over Vivotek, Avilign, Sony, Axis, Bosch.
Karma is a bitch...
So Chinese manufacturers ripping off Chinese state-owned manufacturers , how unethical!!??.
How about Chinese ripping off other country's ? Acceptable !!??
Examples
WU Mart - Wal Mart
OFC - KFC
Harry Potter & the leopard walk up to the dragon
Bucksstar - Starbucks
Sunbucks - Starbucks
Star Fucks !!! - Starbucks
Apple - Apple, yes even a fully kitted store in China.
Pizza Huh - Pizza Hut
Iphone - Hiphone
Rolls Royce - look alike car
Range Rover - Land wind
MacDonald’s - MacMacDonalds
Wii - WiWi
Playstation - ployStation
Puma - Numa and all the other sports clothes brands
and thousands more!!
The Hikvision protocol by Longse does not automatically set IP address when connected to NVR POE port but you can use SADP or Longses own tools to change it. At half the price and quality/reliability as good as Hik , its on to a winner.
Longse is the 3rd largest manufacturer of CCTV in CH and a lot has changed - no spamming or email to public. Hikvision sells direct to end users through high street stores and there are over 36,ooo items on UK ebay - all we get is " my customers can buy it cheaper on ebay" The first time we bought from Longse was in 2010 and but didn’t use then again until 3 years ago. With a returns rate less than 0.3% , its good as Hik but half the price.
Hikvision make OEM for many other companies but Hik hates it if they are selling more than branded ones, they even threaten companies that sell the OEM’s on .
NOTICE: This comment has been moved to its own discussion: Why I Choose Longse Over Hikvision
I'm a bit old to this conversation. I've walked through the Longse factory near Guangzhou (Southern China) and I saw a lot of interesting brands loaded up in the staging area of their warehouse.
A lot of the success of these small(er) players is going to be a result of standardizations of ONVIF and/or the acceptance of HDCCTV in the enterprise world. I don't see either happening anytime soon, so these brands will continue to be the key to the "trunk slammers making a buck selling against the Costco packages. But...
I have not just spoken to, but consulted personally with Mr. Hu of HIKVISION. I have worked directly with Longse and the owners of RDS (think Costco and Sam's Club packaging, FLIR). I have a lot of influence in and with these organizations. They want this market and are willing to pay desperately to get it.
The industry is in trouble. Reps companies are closing left and right, the Pelco's and Arecont's (US manufacturing) are having a hard time maintaining a value proposition worth paying the premium. HDCCTV is a valid threat and with the backing of the Chinese government, guys like HIK will continue to leverage their deep pockets to penetrate the market.
If HIK came out with a premium brand that was truly "made in the USA," would this change the perception? Dahua? Same deal as Japan has made with Toyota and Honda...Could the US market accept product ultimately controlled by foreigners, but built here in the US? Would the government and the Integrators say this is good enough? This is more of a prediction more than a question and I believe this is what is coming...
Americans given jobs by the Chinese today sounds as crazy as it may have 60 years ago to have Toyota and Honda building cars in the USA. I believe we are nearing this point with China and need to decide if we are ok with a global economy. Are we going to continue to fight it? I haven't taken either side. I'm simply intrigued with the situation...Especially since I'm sitting in an area where I can be influential to either direction.
The biggest question: Do we hope that continued globalization does not hit us because we are America and are big enough to stop it, or do we accept it now, and leverage it before someone else does? Do we think that with a new government and President, we will continue our fight against this globalization and rise again as a manufacturing powerhouse? I'm not sold either way...
Too much real talk for a Friday night. Thanks John H for this platform.
At least they didn't name it Hokvision :P http://hokvs.com/en/