Posted on 05/13/2007 5:30:35 AM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4
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Links Army Engineers – Gulf YouTube page Army Civil Affairs – Afghanistan YouTube page |
Starting Monday, the Defense Department will block access to MySpace, YouTube and a host of other sites on official department computers worldwide, in an effort to boost its network efficiency.
Troops and families living on U.S. bases will still be able to view the sites through private Internet networks, but the move leaves servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan who use the popular picture- and video-sharing sites with little or no access to them.
Defense officials said the move is solely a reaction to the heavy drain the streaming video and audio can put on the defense computer network.
“We’re not passing any judgment on these sites, we’re just saying you shouldn’t be accessing them at work,” said Julie Ziegenhorn, spokeswoman for U.S. Strategic Command. “This is a bandwidth and network management issue. We’ve got to have the networks open to do our mission. They have to be reliable, timely and secure.”
In a message to troops from U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. B.B. Bell on Friday, he acknowledged many of the sites being blocked are used by troops to keep in touch with family and friends.
“This recreational traffic impacts our official DOD network and bandwidth availability, while posting a significant operational security challenge,” he wrote.
Ironically, the Defense Department this year had just begun expanding its own use of YouTube to reach a younger, broader audience and show clips of U.S. troops in action.
Multi-National Force — Iraq, U.S. Army Civil Affairs Command in Afghanistan, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Gulf Region have all launched new channels on the Web site to highlight recent successes overseas.
Ziegenhorn said that wasn’t taken into consideration when the Joint Task Force Global Network Operations began reviewing and flagging sites that posed problems to the network.
“This is all about what is a drain on the system,” she said.
A review of the banned sites has been under way since February, she said. And the task force is still considering other problematic addresses to add to the list.
“This will be an ever-evolving discussion, because we need to constantly make sure those networks are available and secure,” she said.
The official policy blocking the sites will be released Monday, the same day they go into effect. But Ziegenhorn said most network administrators are already aware of the change.
The individual services have already blocked some sites for the same bandwidth issues. In addition, Defense Department policy prohibits troops or civilian workers from using government computers from accessing inappropriate sites because of inappropriate content, such as pornography.
Eventually, every thing will be blocked but .mil sites.
Hajji Mart will be selling a lot of satellite dishes.
Hmmm. This sounds more like the “official” explanation. Today’s network backbones, even those owned by the DoD, are pretty capable of handling these kinds of loads. I call BS.
I pay a nominal monthly fee for a local Iraqi service that I can use from my quarters in the evenings to gain access to the fun stuff. I brought my own personal laptop with me and now I'm VERY glad I did.
You’re calling it wrong. The buffet on the internet is about to change with per megabyte usage charges. The DOD is just in front of the curve on this one.
ping
“Inappropriate content, get back to work.”
(Sunday morning fat fingers and no coffee yet.)
“are pretty capable of handling these kinds of loads. I call BS.”
It’s not BS. Streaming audio and video will kill a network faster than just about anything, especially one that tries to be secure and centralized for those same security reasons.
They have to crackdown on this because China complained their downloading of all US military computer data is taking too long.
proxy ISP’s.
If security is an issue, why is there a NIPR? (Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network)
Eventually, some JAG weenie will declare that sites which are not blocked are endorsed by J-6, followed by J-6 blocking every thing but .mil
“Streaming audio and video will kill a network faster than...”
Agreed. Esp in remote or poor-wire/fibre service exists.....fact is, for lots of military use the broadband GEO’s are used to provide very local (wired) LANs for official use......thus it is very often a spectrum problem.
Here is some Sat ISP info for US bases in Iraq.....
http://www.satellite-provider.pl/iraq-us-army.html
” jesus christ what a stupid explanation.”
Calm down, my friend. If you’d ever managed an enterprise network, you’d know that it isn’t such a stupid explanantion.
Security, on one hand favors a low number of “chokepoints” while bandwidth demands a more distributed number of “chokepoints”. Do the math. Even a modest 100kBps data stream multiplied over tens of thousands of users is a formidable data stream, especially when you consider remote links that are almost always bandwidth starved.
Internet Radio is used by many users just like a regular radio.....you turn it on, and leave it on all day....and mute the audio when you get a phone call - still consuming bandwidth.
Add video sites like YouTube and.....you kill your network.
That seems incredibly unlikely, at this point in time.
What would lead you to believe that?
“It’s not BS. Streaming audio and video will kill a network faster than just about anything, especially one that tries to be secure and centralized for those same security reasons.”
Bingo. I had to shut down IDS (Block ports) when I was at Camp Doha, KU. Also, where I am these days Unclass network is DOG slow. (This has to do with a whole bunch of stuff {like overloading the OS on all the systems with every security checking device and filter known to man} but Streaming Voice/videpo is a major contributing factor).
Hang a sniffer {if you can.... :-)} and see the traffic spike when video is played....
At least I can still access FR.
< fingers crossed>
I lost more than half (65%) the traffic on my network when I eliminated non-work related streaming sites.
Incidentally, I also monitored the network for a week before turning it on, and was amazed at some of the sites that people were visiting.....hardcore, everything....all traceable directly to the individual
That's what blocks my Photobucket.
And get this...it blocks my ability to do a keyword search on the Federal Acquisition Regulations site. Go figure.
Sooner or later, DHS will block FreeRepublic and it will be a sad day indeed.
Odd that I live in Silicon Valley, have a high-tech career, and have no official or personal need whatsoever for myspace, youtube, etc., and yet I manage to survive. I expect that the servicemen will be able to survive as well.
http://tor.eff.org/
So far, so good.
I can handle the heat, the dust, the bombs going off, etc., but dang it, don't MESS with my FR access! :)
Sure, they'll be able to survive. Not everyone has the same tastes, desires or motives you do, though.
A lot of these servicemen don't have the same entertainment options you do. They are far from home and doing a stressful job. They can't go to the golf course, the movie theater, concerts, restaurants, the neighborhood bar...it's a little bit different.
Things such as myspace or YouTube can mean a lot more to these guys than they do to you.
Nothing I've read about NIPRnet guarantees "non-military use" users free access to whatever content they want. Streaming media is a network killer, and for those troops out in the boondocks, bandwidth is limited, and DoD is trying to maximize the efficiency of the links. Let's make sure the E-mail goes through first, and then all the routine non-classified stuff like supply requisitions, Personnel administration etc, and let the USO pay for the "fun stuff". What is surprising, is that it's taken DoD this long, to tighten the screws on bandwidth hogs.
This morning I received an email from an old friend that included a You Tube “Message for Peace” that linked to Code Pink and other nasty antiwar groups.
My friend meant well, but her email shows the danger of sites like You Tube. Like everything on the Net, the benefits balance the threats and places like the FreeRepublic are here to counter the bad stuff.
Whatever, TPTB are dying to control the Internet.
Michael Frazier
Yes, I am quite familiar with NIPRNET and SIPRNET.
Nobody is saying they were guaranteed anything. We are just having a discussion. Calm down.
IT is a pretty broad field. Are you a Network Engineer or Network administrator?
To suggest the US military (the peolpe who invented the Inet for God’s save) computer network cannot handle a few soldiers viewing video then this country is in big trouble.
Sure. A well established base can be served by a big fat pipe, but most of the links in Iraq are via satellite, which is limited in bandwidth, and then you complicate the matter by adding security. Regardless of how well I want the soldiers served, I can understand the limitations, and agree with the decision.
I am calm. Just wanted to post for general info, what NIPRnet is all about. It just appeared to me that DoD was being unfairly bashed by some, before all the facts were in.
I do work in IT.
To suggest the US military (the people who invented the Inet for God’s save) computer network cannot handle a few soldiers viewing video then this country is in big trouble.”
You, pacelvi, are the arrogant prick.
What do you do in IT - attempt to compile faulty gaming code?
I design, implement, operate and maintain DOD networks. We only get so much bandwidth, and dedicated leased bandwidth (yes, it’s ALL leased) costs money. A lot of money. As such, we are sorely short on SATCOM bandwidth.
Speak to stuff you know about. Clearly this subject is not within your realm of knowledge, or even familiarity for that matter.
hmmmm,... wonder if DrudgeReport, NewsBusters, the local NewsPaper, or ....... will be blocked?
I work for DoD and for a while I couldn’t get Free Republic or Little Green Footballs. Now I can, but they have cut access to Hot Air and have never been able to go to You-Tube. But, you can go to any liberal hate site you can find. It’s time to kick the Carter/Clinton career civil servants out of the Pentagon, CIA, NSA, and State Department. Traitors have no place in Government Service. This is total BS!
What’s wrong? Corporations have been doing the same for years. It will indeed cut the costs down: video is particularly costly to transmit.
Actually you've got the sequence reversed. The filters have been blocking streaming video and the sites which provide it as their primary function, for at least a couple of years now. The list may have recently expanded.
They also block "porn" sites, sometimes catching stuff that isn't really porn up in the filter. Many corporations do the same.
They do, it's called the SIPR net, but much routine administrative, and technical but unclassified traffic goes over the regular 'net.
Considering the performance of the portions of the 'net from my .mil computer, I'd say the concern over bandwidth usage is legitimate.
Smart move ... I do enterprise network security for a very large corporation and we’re about to bandwidth manage this stuff out of existence.
My employer, which has nothing to do with the Federal government does not allow us to access streaming videos, blogs, EBay, non-company email (Yahoo, AOL, GMail,etc) and while they claim its a bandwith issue, they just want us to focus on work. I don’t necessarily like it but I don’t mind.
I’m sorry for being a jerk.
I’m just emotional that’s all. These guys are risking their lives fighting the spawn of Satan, having Congress withhold their funding, and the small comfort they can get from watching video is being squashed because some IT guy wants the packets to route effectively.
Technically, you’re probably right.
At least you have your priorties.
“....the small comfort they can get from watching video is being squashed because some IT guy wants the packets to route effectively.”
Rest assured the IT guys are not “against the troops”. there simply isn’t enough bandwidth to allow everyone to do everything they want all the time. As a shared resource, streaming content is the first thing to go - not unlike sharing a limited number of phones to call home.
They’ll still be able to email, etc. which will no doubt have it’s own limitations - but streaming content interferes with everything when it bogs down a network.
The loss of Myspace is a national security risk. We’re doomed.
Bump that.
Thanks for the ping, sit-rep.
I’m surprised they didn’t do this sooner.
All kinds of things are blocked at my office. Sometimes it’s a bit annoying, like when I’m trying to do research and I get a blocked site (along with the skull and crossbones and threats from IT), but that doesn’t happen too often.
At least it helps keep people from just wasting time on the internet all day.
Now that would be bad. FR is where I go for current news.
It's very plausible. I worked for a large corporation with offices worldwide, mostly on great networks. We had a night-shift manager in our German office who singlehandedly delayed significantly the nightly transmissions by watching porn video.
The MWR function at my last deployed site had access that was unrestricted. They expected people to know right from wrong and act appropriately. The only problem they had was on-line gaming (i.e. Everquest type of activity). They had signs posted because it ate up the bandwidth.
I’ve noticed that, too. I remember, a couple years ago, that they blocked Rush Limbaugh’s web site, but you could still get to the Air America web site.
I wondered if it was political, or if they were just targeting the big sites. There are so many little “shit ball” sites out there that they could spend a lifetime building a list and they’d never get them all.
But then, it does seam that the tend to cut the access to those “questionable” web sites that tend to run conservative.
NCCs tend to block websites based on content. The language alone gets most Lib/Dem sites blocked.
Yeah, I can justify the time I spend on FR (more or less).
OTOH, when myspace.com is blocked, "I needed to go on the political forums and make some 15 year old idiot highschool kid cry on a .gov computer", that's a little harder to convince anyone it's mission critical.
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