A few employees may be very proud to work at very fake Apple stores in China, but city officials have begun to crack down on the outlets, sort of: two were shuttered in the city of Kunming, Reuters reports. Oddly enough, though, they weren't closed because they violated Apple's copyright by being carbon copies of the company's minimalist stores. They just didn't have an official business permit, notes Reuters. Which is one way of addressing all the attention received since being noticed by an American blogging at Bird Abroad. But it doesn't seem that effective: "Chinese law prohibits companies from copying the 'look and feel' of other companies' stores, but enforcement is often spotty," Reuters concludes. Hollywood studios dealing with pirated DVDs may be able to sympathize.

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Erik Hayden