KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — The Sugarbook "compensated dating” service has introduced an alternative web address to let its users bypass the government-imposed ban on the company’s main webpage.

Yesterday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) blocked access to Sugarbook after issuing a statement warning users against the service and said action would be taken if authorities detected elements of prostitution.

Today, Sugarbook launched an alternative web address at sucrebook.com. Sucre is French for sugar.

The alternative website allows access to the service without additional steps to circumvent the MCMC ban.

Sugarbook describes itself as a platform where "romance meets finance”, which has been interpreted as a euphemism for trading sex for payment and among reasons why authorities here have warned against it.

The company insists that it was not involved in prostitution and that any transactions between its users are entirely voluntary.

The company hit controversy recently over promotional material that implied that many of its "sugar babies”, the young women who exchange their companionship in return for financial compensation, were from local universities.