I meant Chinese clones. Arduino is Open Hardware, it's perfectly legal (that's kind of a point of Open Hardware movement). It's equivalent in form and function to the genuine Arduino made in Italy.

Oh okay okay, I see now. Yes, it's perfectly legal (as long as they don't use the Arduino (or Genuino) name).

Do you have a link? I was just about to get started on a project and getting a $2 Arduino would be great for tinkering

Just a little bit more: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Best-prices-UNO-R3-MEGA328P-f...

But if you are not planning on using shields you can get arduino mini for ~$1.3 or nano for ~$1.8

Go to AliExpress.com and search for "pro micro" or "pro mini".

You can get a Pro Mini clone for less than $1.50.

A full-size Arduino R3 clone (with a cheaper USB chip, the CH340G) is less than $3 with free shipping.