I don't mind them copying existing ideas. And judging by:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3658797

> there was nothing revolutionary about Dropbox. There were already dozens of similar things

Neither do you.

It's the literal copying of the designs without adding anything novel that I have a problem with. Case in point:

http://www.wimdu.com/

Also http://www.pinspire.com/ (http://pinterest.com/)

They even copied the font for the logo. Yuck.

What they are doing is pretty frustrating but they appear to be doing it pretty well. Copying an existing business is not always trivial so I suppose they must be doing something right.

Now if they were churning out half-assed businesses just to capitalize on something that is currently trendy/popular then that's a different story. Just look at the Android market, it is full of copies of original indie games that came out on iOS first.

"there are already names for people who do that."

Honest question: What name is that? (English is not my first language.)

And since I cannot quite interpret the tone of your comment I have to ask bluntly: Do you find it okay what the Samwers do?

The term I was thinking of is "knock-off artists."

I don't like what they do. It's ok to take an existing idea and adapt it. E.g. to try to make a web-based version of a desktop app. But there is something contemptible about copying something so literally that you even copy the mistakes.

It does smell a bit funny, but in a way what they do is not just copy an app but rather create an international / European knock-off. They identified a weakness in the way American startups operate - concentrating on the American and/or English-speaking market for very long while neglecting the rest of the world, and they're taking advantage of that. Their business model would become obsolete if startups became better at addressing international markets.

For what it's worth, I'm a native English speaker and wondered the same things.

Copycat is the most unambiguous word I can think of.