YouTube says it is changing the way it deals with users who violate its community guidelines.

The video sharing site says it will no longer treat users "who uploads three videos that violate the Community Guidelines over the span of a year the same as someone who uploads those same videos over the course of a week."

YouTube says its new policy will lift penalties against users who violated its terms of use after six months and that "Accounts that had one or two warnings (as of April 16, 2008) for Community Guidelines (or Terms of Use) violations have been given a clean slate." The new rules do not apply to copyright violations, which do not expire.