Military blocks access to popular video sites - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Military blocks access to popular video sites

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s Cyber Command has shut down Defense Department workers’ access to popular streaming video websites including YouTube, Amazon, and Google Video.

Officials say the tremendous demand to see footage related to the Japan earthquake is eating up bandwidth already weakened by Internet problems in that part of the world.

Cyber Command has directed the Defense Information Systems Agency to temporarily restrict access to the websites. Most employees see the message “Website Blocked” in bright red letters when they go to one of the sites.

Cyber Command says the restrictions are no reflection on the websites. The command says the sites have been blocked at the request of U.S. Pacific Command to help meet the needs of the military because its networks and circuits in the region are facing extreme demands.