In what appears to be a memo sent to ISPs by the regulator of Internet industries in Malaysia, all service providers have been ordered to completely block various file-sharing sites including The Pirate Bay, MegaVideo and other hosting services. The move follows an April statement by the country’s Prime Minister in which he promised his administration would never censor the Internet.

The regulation of the communications and multimedia industry in Malaysia is handled by SKMM – the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. Under a 1998 Act of the same name, the Commission is empowered to carry out a range of functions, several of which are law-related.

According to SKMM’s website, the Commission has the power to “implement and enforce the provisions of the communications and multimedia law”, “regulate all matters relating to communications and multimedia activities not provided for in the communications and multimedia law” and to recommend reforms to existing law.

SKMM is clearly a powerful organization and if a document uncovered by Wirawanweb.com is authentic (and it appears to tick all of the necessary boxes), its considerable muscles have just been flexed against online copyright infringement. The memo, titled ‘Request For Action Under Section 263(2) of The Communications and Multimedia Act CMA 1998‘ (the legislation that gives SKMM its powers) appears to order all of Malaysia’s ISPs to immediately block a number of high-profile file-sharing related sites, as listed below:

- http://www.warez-bb.org

- http://thepiratebay.org

- http://www.movie2k.to

- http://www.megavideo.com

- http://www.putlocker.com

- http://www.depositfiles.com

- http://www.duckload.com

- http://www.fileserve.com

- http://www.filetube.com

- http://www.megaupload.com