The US authorities have blocked access to three websites offering pirated copies of Android apps.


According to BBC News, the Department of Justice said it was the "first time website domains involving cell phone app marketplaces have been seized".


The sites involved were applanet.net, appbucket.net and snappzmarket.com.


Their pages now display a FBI warning that first-time offenders involved in copyright infringement face up to five years in jail.


"The theft of intellectual property, particularly within the cyber-arena, is a growing problem and one that cannot be ignored by the US government's law enforcement community," said the FBI in a statement.


"These thefts cost companies millions of dollars and can even inhibit the development and implementation of new ideas and applications."


The agency said search warrants had been executed in six areas of the country including Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Texas.
Sally Quillian Yates, US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, signalled other sites faced similar action.


"We will continue to seize and shut down websites that market pirated apps, and to pursue those responsible for criminal charges if appropriate," she said.


Although this is the US's first seizure of app-piracy net domains, it follows other efforts against file-sharing sites.
The Ukrainian press has also suggested its government pressured a local internet service provider into taking BitTorrent link-tracking site Demonoid offline in order to impress the US. The action coincided with a visit by Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Valeriy Khoroshkovsky to Washington.