By SUBASHINI SELVARATNAM
bytz@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The 10 file-sharing sites ordered to be blocked are still accessible to web surfers.

A check yesterday evening showed that nine of the sites could be accessed and their services utilised while the remaining one, www.duckload.com, was down due to technical difficulties. But it was also not blocked.

The websites are supposedly among the most visited by Malaysians to illegally download movies.

It had been reported that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) sent a letter on May 30 to all Internet service providers, ordering that the 10 sites be blocked.

The letter, among others, stated that the websites were being blocked for breaching Section 41 of the Copyright Act, which deals with pirated content.

When contacted, several ISPs were unable to comment on why the MCMC’s order had yet to be carried out.

They risk being penalised for not complying with the order.

Under Section 242 of the Commmunications and Multi­media Act, they can be fined RM100,000, jailed for not more than two years, or both.

A protest by local websurfers over the site-blocking has been growing on Twitter and Facebook. Their number came up to almost 12,000 over the past three days.

sos salah reporting