Denver - The U.S. Department of Defense is set to block popular websites including MySpace and YouTube on its worldwide networks, citing a need to protect information and lessen the strain on bandwidth, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

While soldiers serving overseas may still use their own computers and networks to access the sites, many in Iraq and Afghanistan have access only to DoD-operated networks.

"This recreational traffic impacts our official DoD network and bandwidth ability, while posing a significant operational security challenge," Gen. B.B. Bell, the U.S. Forces Korea commander, said in a memo sent on Friday.

In addition to YouTube and MySpace, the list of banned sites will include video-sharing sites Metacafe, IFilm, StupidVideos and FileCabi; the photo-sharing site Photobucket; other social networks BlackPlanet and Hi5; and music services Pandora, MTV.com, 1.fm and Live365.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070514/ap_on_hi_te/military_sites_blocked