US DoD launched official online video site

With so many troops deployed overseas with cameras, and so much action going on in wartime, it was no surprise that a lot of soldiers were shooting and sharing video. The DoD wasn't fond of YouTube, however, and has nowlaunched their own equivalent - and official - video sharing site:

Soldiers in the United States military received a welcome surprise on Tuesday as the nation celebrated Veteran's Day. Delve Networks, based in Seattle, along with Houston-based Marion Montgomery, a marketing and design firm, teamed to launch TroopTube, a video-sharing Web site developed solely for members of the military and their families.
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Access to TroopTube is a way for the military and their families to share videos after the Department of Defense blocked access to several popular Web sites, such as MySpace and YouTube. In February 2007, the DOD released memos that said the Pentagon would block access to such sites for security reasons and the amount of bandwidth required to access the sites. The Pentagon began blocking access just a few months later.

"TroopTube has been made available as the officially sanctioned alternative," Castro said. "Basically, anything you can do on YouTube, you can do on TroopTube." The Web site has been in beta testing for a few weeks, according to Castro, and will not cost the troops anything, since it is a service provided by the federal government.

The Web site, www.trooptube.tv, is designed for easy navigation so users can upload videos and share video messages with each other in a private or shared setting.

By: Brant