Malaysia seeks to ban sites for illegal downloads

KUALA LUMPUR – Thousands of Malaysians have decried a government effort to block access to 10 popular websites often used to illegally download movies, TV shows and music.

It’s the biggest move to curb online entertainment piracy in Malaysia, which has long been accused by industry officials of not cracking down hard enough on the rampant sale of bootleg DVDs and CDs.

A government regulatory body said Friday that it wanted Internet service providers to block 10 websites that violated copyright laws.

More than 6,000 people have joined a Facebook page slamming the decision.

Most users complained Saturday they couldn’t surf the sites, but many were able to by Sunday. Others used alternative access routes to circumvent the ban.

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