APPLE HAS RELEASED the Dogs of Law on at least one trader flogging Iphone lookie-likies in Europe.

According to Macnn, a cease and desist order has been placed on an undisclosed Ebay trader who has been selling the Chinese clone, named the Hiphone.

The device bears a remarkable resemblance to Apple's massively popular handset, both in the physical tooling of the hardware, and the functionality of the software and interface.

Apple's Euro men in grey suits, Bird and Bird, have told the trader to stop selling the devices, and destroy any remaining stock on pain of a €25,000 per-unit slap in the courts if it doesn't comply.

The devices, which are still currently listed on Ebay for as little at £75, usually sell for around £125 but, according to a number of forum postings, don't actually offer all that they promise.

Looks like an Apple, smells like a lemon

The handsets are described as buggy and lacking the firmware and software support needed. Amongst the features promised which don't appear to work properly are handsfree speakerphone, Java support, and dual-sim operation. Users have also reported problems with support for a number of media files.

The Hiphone does, however, offer some features which genuine Iphone users have been missing out on, including a replaceable battery and removable memory in the form of a MicroSD slot.

It is also delivered unlocked which theoreticaly means it can be used on any network. µ