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.

The company said it will still send users who violate its terms of use email notifications but will also display the notice on YouTube the next time they access the site. YouTube says that is due to notifications getting caught in spam filters or going unread.

YouTube is also experimenting with the way it handles users who violate its community guidelines. “What we’ve come up with is to temporarily mute users, so that they can still use the site and watch videos, but they can’t post new content.”

“Right now it is set up to affect users who have two Community Guidelines warnings in a six-month period and will last two weeks.”