Redcore farce shows there are no short cuts in scientific research
The Redcore browser, which its developers claimed to be the first domestically produced browser with self-developed core technology, was revealed to be based on Google Chrome. Science and Technology Daily comments:
It was almost immediately after the browser's developers announced success in a new round of fundraising that it was found to be fake. Some people extracted its installation document folder and found it contained Google Chrome files.
Beside that, the resumes of its main developers, including education and past job experiences, were also found to be fake.
Some say the incident is comparable to the Han-core incident 15 years ago, in which some professors claimed to have invented a micro chip with domestic technologies but had actually done nothing except scrape the logo off an exported chip and paint theirs on it.
But Redcore is even worse than that because it intentionally makes use of loopholes in the rules. For example, it has used the open-source code of Google chrome, but without labeling clearly the source as required. It cheats the public by claiming it developed "independent" technologies, which it has never done. If Han-core is a thief, Redcore can be called a fraudster, to which the market, the public, and the investors have all fallen victims.
Now Redcore developers have withdrawn the download link on their websites and apologized. It remains questionable whether their activities are suspected of false drumbeating, but one thing is certain: The market will give them the penalty they deserve. Investors are not so stupid as to be cheated into believing such a lie.
The Redcore incident should also teach all enterprises in the market a lesson: new technologies can only be developed through hard work, not copying. They should also learn never to lie to the public because any lie will be exposed soon.