In a bid to tackle piracy, Malaysia's telecommunication industry watchdog has blocked 10 filesharing websites that were among the most visited sites by Malaysians to illegally download movies.

According to reports in the local newspapers today, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had written a letter to all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ordering the block last month.

The letter which was leaked online, also stated that the websites were being blocked for breaching the Copyright Act which deals with pirated content.

The blocked sites include piratebay, warez and megavideo.

The ban has apparently been done on the request of the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry.

The ministry's enforcement division director-general Mohd Roslan Mahayudin told 'Star' newspaper that the ministry had given the names of 19 websites, including the 10 listed in the letter, to be blocked for violating the Act but added that it was up to MCMC to decide on which ones to block.

When asked about the fate of surfers who legally use the websites such as for storing non-pirated content, Mohd Roslan said they could always write to the ministry.

"Anyone who feels the ban is wrong can write to us and we will look into it," he said.

Local film maker Norman Abd Halim of KRU Studios said the move was long overdue.

Norman equated the move to South Korea's three-strikes law, where a person guilty of copyright infringement can have their Internet access suspended for six months.

However, irate users have vented their frustration by creating a Facebook page to protest, the daily said.

Some also made reference to the MSC Malaysia Bill of Guarantees which states that the Government will not censor the Internet.

MSC Malaysia is a national initiative that kicked off in 1996 and is aimed at transforming the nation into a knowledge-based economy.