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Troops Barred From MySpace and YouTube

The U.S. may have the most fearsome military force in the world, but it seems it's defenseless against popular sites such as MySpace and YouTube. Citing "recreational traffic impacts" the U.S. Defense Department has blocked those sites and 11 others, preventing their access from any DoD-owned computer or network. This means that most soldiers deployed on active duty, far away from their personal computers at home, will be unable to log onto these sites. The move is unfortunate, considering many soldiers rely on MySpace for keeping in touch with friends.

This news coming hot on the heels of new and strict rules preventing military personnel from posting to blogs or sending e-mails without clearance from superiors, which makes us wonder if the motivation behind the block is censorship rather than network performance. After all, it would be very easy for a soldier to post sensitive material to either site, which was the reasoning behind the new restrictions on blogs and e-mail.

Blocking YouTube is especially odd given the Army's newly-launched YouTube channel, in which soldiers are encouraged to post up videos to a site they can no longer access. Should be a real hit . . ..

From Money & Finance

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