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U.S. Troops no longer able to view MySpace, YouTube and other traffic impacters
CNN is reporting that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) will soon shut down overseas troop access to popular web sites including MySpace and YouTube. Looks like the new policy will take effect beginning today.
The article notes, "The policy is being implemented to protect information and reduce drag on the department's networks, according to Bell.
"This recreational traffic impacts our official DoD network and bandwidth ability, while posing a significant operational security challenge," the memo said."
It is important to note that soldiers can still access these sites on their own computer and network but most of the networks overseas are DoD networks.
CNN lists the banned sites as:
- YouTube
- Metacafe
- IFilm
- StupidVideos
- FileCabi
- MySpace
- BlackPlanet
- Hi5
- Pandora
- Photobucket
- MTV
- 1.fm
- Live365
I say shame. These men and women are busting their butt everyday and when they get 5 minutes of relaxation, why shouldn't they be able to watch a funny video on YouTube, edit their MySpace profile with new pictures or more importantly view their families pictures on Photobucket. Of course, there are plenty of ways around these filters and I am guessing that we will see some sites crop up quickly which help soldiers still access what they want to.
If some communications giant (Comcast, AT&T, etc.), they would create some way for soldiers to access these sites using their networks. Might be a great PR story.
I agree with you totally, it is a shame. But have you thought of this from the point of view that this move is also intended as a kind of censorships measure? I mean, if it takes extra efforts to upload your video of a bombed Iraq village to YouTube for everyone to see, maybe soldiers will reveal less shocking information? Especially taking into account the recent speculations of US soldiers blogs to be pre-approved by a superior.
I have told what I think of it myself at http://www.profy.com/2007/05/15/pentagon-blocked-access-to-entertainment-sites/ and will appreciate your comments there as well.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone and to be honest, this isn’t a new policy either. I’ve been to the desert twice and on both occasions our network was locked down.
What this article doesn’t say is – military members can still walk 20 feet to the internet cafe, pay $2-3 per hour, and do whatever they want on the Internet, including play games!
This DoD policy is about protecting the network:
The DoD has worked out a lot of other ways for people to keep in contact with one another. The Air Force has its own Instant Messenger that can connect to other IM networks (although they should just save our money and contract our Meebo – the AFIM sucks so much).
… like http://www.dailymotion.com... everything also is here.
interesting