Plans to block websites that host copyright infringing material are to be dumped by the government.

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The move is designed to prevent people using the function being pointed to copyright infringing material.

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YouTube was found to have swiftly removed infringing material upon receiving notice from Viacom of specific copyright infringement.

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The provisions protect web service providers from infringement liability if they remove infringing material when requested by copyright holders.

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This contrasts with practice in America and Europe, where a web company alerted to infringing material must remove it.

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Schmitz, a German national, is currently fighting extradition from New Zealand to the US to be prosecuted on charges relating to copyright-infringing material being made available through Megaupload.com and its partner sites.

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