By design, YouTube makes it very easy to upload video and share it with everyone else on earth. That includes e-mailing links and allowing users to embed the video on any other web site. The US Military banned soldiers from using YouTube citing security concerns. But that might not matter anymore with the launch of TroopTube, a video sharing site specifically for members of the military.

What makes TroopTube more digestible for military officials? A couple of things. First, videos it hosts are not embeddable on other sites. That would be a tough pill to swallow for Internet users who participate in social networks like MySpace and Facebook, or who write blogs. But, the military frowns on those sorts of activities as well for the same reason: it’s a security risk if the wrong information ends up online. The site does support e-mailing links to specific videos.

TroopTube also has tools built in that require all videos to engage with an approval process before being published to the web, according to the Associated Press. That means it’s easier for military officials to keep an eye on what’s going public, and what needs to be censored.

I’m curious though why embedding video was such a key issue. Embedded videos are subject to the same sort of functionality that simple links provide. If the resource isn’t available the embedded object doesn’t display. Of course, there could be other factors at work here. Perhaps this method reduces the likelihood that someone can download a local copy of the footage.

The military is calling TroopTube a “retention tool” that’s intended to keep Internet-savvy troops happy on the front lines. It’s a very positive way to deal with the security loopholes of YouTube while still providing a good way to keep in touch with family and friends.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 10:06 pm under Internet, Online video, YouTube.

Read more entries by Matt Jansen.
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