Because use of the popular video sharing site YouTube has
been restricted for members of the U.S. military, there is now an alternative
called TroopTube.
The site’s beta can be found at TroopTube.tv, and will let users sign up as
members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or as a reservist or family
member of a military member, as well as a civilian friend. Videos can be
uploaded by any of these, but will be checked by censors before being put
online.
“Videos must fall within accepted boundaries of community
standards and safety,” says the Military OneSource website, in its description
of TroopTube. Military OneSource runs the TroopTube website, and is owned by
the Minneapolis-based Ceridian Corporation.
Videos which are not approved will not be edited; they will
simply not be posted. Grounds for rejection include violent or obscene videos.
Pentagon employees who filter the videos will also delete any threats to
national security as well as copyright infringing content.
The “most watched” video on TroopTube, and one of the few
accessible without a registration, is a Message
to the Troops by General David Petraeus. Another is a “shout-out” to 3rd
Brigade A Troop 133 Cavalry soldiers from their wives which was posted on
Tuesday.
According to press, Delve Networks, a Seattle startup
company helped the company build, organize and maintain the site. It also
created the technology to approve and sort incoming videos. Delve is also
responsible for technology selecting different video sizes and streams
depending on the viewer’s internet connection.
TroopTube exists because the Department of Defense (DoD)
denied military personnel access to YouTube and several other video sites as
well as social networking sites like MySpace more than a year ago due to
security issues; the enormous bandwidth strain on its networks that use of the
sites was causing was also an issue.
According to Delve Chief Executive Alex Castro, TroopTube is
a “retention tool” designed for a new generation of soldiers who bring laptops
and other portable devices capable of internet browsing to the front line with
them. "A lot of people are excited in the company to be doing something
for the people who make sacrifices," said Castro. "We're proud of
this."
While this author understands the concerns which caused the
ban of video sharing and social sites to military personnel, one cannot but
shudder at least the slightest bit at the ‘alternative’ which has been offered
to these members of the military. While YouTube has in the past been accused of
unfair deleting and banning, it’s never practiced outright censorship. Does a
person who is in the military become any less subject to the First Amendment, does
that person have any less of a right to free speech? And can we expect the same
practice to spread over civilian networks all in the name of national security?
Just some food for thought for military men, their families, and friends who are
using TroopTube. EB over and out.
