Beijing - Chinese officials have shuttered 205 websites in a crackdown on Internet piracy that came partly at the behest of U.S. entertainment interests, Reuters reported.

Between the end of September and January, the country investigated 436 cases, 130 of which were at the request of overseas industry associations. In all, 361 sites were ordered to cease infringements.

In addition to the site closures, Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the National Copyright Administration, said that authorities imposed fines totaling $91,000, confiscated 71 servers and referred six cases for prosecution, Reuters reported.

"Piracy of intellectual property on the Internet has seriously harmed the interests of copyright owners, leading to a large number of disputes -- and thus disrupting the orderliness of the Internet," Xiaohong said.

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http://tinyurl.com/35m5ne (Reuters)