Looking for an app to help you access The Pirate Bay on your Android phone? You might have a hard time finding one on Google Play.

Google on Friday removed several popular third-party Pirate Bay apps from the Play Store on the grounds of copyright violation, TorrentFreakreported. The list of newly banned apps includes The Pirate Bay Proxy, The Pirate Bay Premium, The Pirate Bay Mirror, and PirateApp.

These apps use proxy sites to help users get around ISP blockades and access The Pirate Bay from a mobile device. Google claims they violate intellectual property provisions of its Play Store content policy.

"REASON FOR REMOVAL: Violation of the intellectual property and impersonation or deceptive behaviour provisions of the Content Policy. Please refer to the IP infringement and impersonation policy help article for more information," Google wrote in an email to developers of the removed apps.

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In its note, Google said the removal serves as "policy strike" which may result in account termination.

"All violations are tracked," the Web giant wrote. "Serious or repeated violations of any nature will result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts."

Naturally, the developers aren't thrilled with the move. TorrentFreak spoke with the developer of The Pirate Bay Proxy app, who filed an appeal to get the software reinstated, arguing the app is no different than Google's own Chrome browser. All it does is point people to a proxy site and then acts just like any other browser. But Google isn't backing down, and has reportedly denied the appeal.

In October,Google started testing new ad and search-result formats to help users find legitimate sources of media.In addition to removing sites that traffic in pirated content from search results, Google will add new ad slots on its returns that promote authorized alternatives, like Spotify or Beats Music.