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Acting on behalf of the major studios, the Motion Picture Assn. of America has filed legal action in federal court in Los Angeles against FOMDB.com and MovieRumor.com for allegedly helping online pirates access bootlegged movies and TV shows.

"These sites contribute to and profit from massive copyright infringement by identifying, posting, organizing and indexing links to infringing content found on the Internet that consumers can then view on demand," the MPAA said Tuesday.

Since both sites take advertising, MPAA lawyers argued that the sites employ business models that seek profit through encouraging users � an estimated 27,000 unique visitors per month, combined � to violate copyright protection.

"There are many people operating illegal websites like these who are profiting from the theft of protected content," said John Malcolm, MPAA exec VP and director of worldwide anti-piracy ops, in a statement. "We have filed several other similar lawsuits and will continue to do so in order to hold operators accountable for their illegal activities. We have every intention of shutting down these, and sites like them, for good."

Neither website responded to a request for comment.