Posted on 05/14/2007 8:59:10 AM PDT by Fractal Trader
Soldiers serving overseas will lose some of their online links to friends and loved ones back home under a Department of Defense policy that a high-ranking Army official said would take effect Monday.
The Defense Department will begin blocking access "worldwide" to YouTube, MySpace and 11 other popular Web sites on its computers and networks, according to a memo sent Friday by Gen. B.B. Bell, the U.S. Forces Korea commander.
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.
The armed services have long barred members of the military from sharing information that could jeopardize their missions or safety, whether electronically or by other means.
The new policy is different because it creates a blanket ban on several sites used by military personnel to exchange messages, pictures, video and audio with family and friends.
Members of the military can still access the sites on their own computers and networks, but Defense Department computers and networks are the only ones available to many soldiers and sailors in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iraqi insurgents or their supporters have been posting videos on YouTube at least since last fall, and the Army recently began posting videos on YouTube showing soldiers defeating insurgents and befriending Iraqis.
But the new rules mean many military personnel won't be able to watch those videos — at least not on military computers.
If the restrictions are intended to prevent soldiers from giving or receiving bad news, they could also prevent them from providing positive reports from the field, said Noah Shachtman, who runs a national security blog for Wired Magazine.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Our soldiers must never learn the hideous truth about Diet Coke and Mentos.
Noah seems to be more concerned about HIS access to information.
Get over it, Noah.
The problem is that My Space, Photobuclet and such sites are the primary way my wife and I communicate with our daughter (active USAF).
A lot of military families are in this position and without any viable other Internet access that they can purchase, the military member is cutoff....
Geez DOD....increase your bandwidth...this is a moral issue for the troops and families left behind....
I doubt this is about bandwidth, more likely it is about censoring sensitive information from being allowed out.
Myspace was the only social life i had when i was there.
No, I think the intent is to prevent Loose Lips from Sinking Ships. Amazing how the Lamestream media attempts to distort this.
Write a letter....I think folks can survive without internet access...
Before, any internet sites and blogs were to be registered with your PA officer that would monitor them for disclosing information. I dont see any reason to make a theater-wide ban, except I’m sure somebody’s adding a star to their chest.
It has to do with legal issues and having 'employees' given access to material that be objectionable. Our company blocks both as well.
How about using online email accounts (like Gmail or Yahoo)? Those sites won't be blocked, presumably.
Not sure all that the DoD blocked but do a search on and check out -
FileAve, HotlinkFiles, FileHigh, FreeFileHost, AlkaSpace, YourPix, InselPix, UploadExtra, MyNetImages, FreeImageHost, and HostA.
I hope one of these revives your online communications with your daughter.
{sigh} Exactly the type of attitude that is abundant with some in the Military.
And?
Of course we will all survive without internet access, but why?
So the most powerful military on the face of the earth has it’s members rely on a old method of communication.
Perhaps you would like them to rely on carrier pigeon?
Or maybe hand signals, I work well with that.....
See my hand....I’m sending you a signal right now....
Just stating my displeasure with the belief that cracking down on matters of convenience and personal freedoms is always the first plan of action when it comes to correcting non-problems.
We do, but they don’t have the qualities of mass picture review like the websites.
She can watch her baby grow up on Photobucket....multiple pictures and video....
What a lot of people not in the military do not realize is that the same network they use when they are working is the same (and in many cases the only) internet access available when they aren’t.
Businesses restrict these sites since their employees shouldn’t be on the sites during business hours. Employees generally do not live and sleep in their cubicles (at least most).
That said, I have a hard time feeling too badly for our troops losing YouTube as we didn't have any access to our families through the internet when I was deployed to the Kuwaiti desert as recently as '97. Yet we still managed to communicate through letters and the occasional phone call.
I remember in '91, immediately after the Gulf War, my company set up a computer specifically for a new phenomenon called "e-mail". There was one account per deployed company and another for the rear-detachment. The rear-d would print out the messages and give them to the commander's wife to disseminate to the family members in Bad Hersfeld, GE. We actually used Procomm as the email client. It's almost amusing now.
God bless our troops! May they and their families find yet another way to stay in touch.
Work IA? J2? Been around? Didn’t think so...
Great.
DoD is taking the war to cyberspace, with the launch of its own channel on the video-sharing website YouTube, yet they are blocking access to those fighting the war.
Must be the Army running things
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6639401.stm
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.