"DENVER (AP) -- 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" (Weller, 2007).
http://govexec.com/dailyfed/0507/051407ap1.htm?rss=getoday
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Who would have ever thought I'd be rallying for MySpace usage?! Certainly not I... but I have to say, this ban just ain't cool as they say.
I can understand freeing up "stuff" (aka all things technological) for the important things... but one would think that allowing those stationed in places with limited access to keep in touch with folks back home would constitute important stuff.
Talk about a bummer! I'm not a huge Myspace fan, but I do use Myspace to keep in touch with friends in the Military. It's a lot easier with limited Internet time for soldiers to post updates, pictures, etc on MySpace and Youtube for friends and family than it is for them to attempt to email everyone.
Suck. Lots.
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I had heard about this on the news and they said that soldiers with their own computers will still be allowed to access these sites. I had figured it was the army worried about strategic information leaking out through the internet (something that has come to the attention of quite a few people) but allowing people to access it on their own seems to take the conspiracy theory out of that one. Isn't it weird to think how attached to these websites we've become, though? I mean, something like myspace and soldiers using it to access it is something people during vietnam and korea quite possibly couldn't have imagined, and in the what, 5 years myspace has been around, we've integrated it into our lives to such an extent.
Just things to think about.
They will still be able to access it on their own computers... the only problem with that, however, is that in places like Iraq and Afghanistan most don't have their own computers. I just think it sucks all around because sites like Myspace make it so much easier for soldiers to keep in touch with family and friends.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle
"No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong." Francois De La Rochefoucauld