I had not heard that the US Army had banned YouTube in May 2007.  Its reasoning: "security and bandwidth issues".

Now the Army is announcing the launch of an alternative video sharing site, TroopTube.  The move is being called "a "retention tool" aimed at a generation of soldiers who bring laptops to the front lines."

What they don't get is that YouTube is not a video sharing site, it is a part of people's lives.  Their retention tool will not work.  It will not replace YouTube.  Just the way that USA Today they drop outside your door at hotels does not replace your NY Times, even though they both give you news.

What they also don't get, just like the Turkish courts don't, is that banning YouTube does not keep a population from accessing it.  I am sure there will be leaks of sensitive information from military ranks through the multitude of channels available for sharing information. 

YouTube, which has been banned in Turkey for months, is still the #11 most popular website in Turkey, accoding to Alexa.  It woud have been Top 5 had it not been for the ban, but still, it's way ahead of all the alternative video sites.

What a waste of taxpayer's money, in both cases.