San Francisco - The founders of YouTube this week challenged the Pentagon's reasoning when it cited bandwidth constraints as a primary motive for blocking access to its website -- along with other video-sharing sites and social networks like MySpace -- from U.S. soldiers and others using its network, the Associated Press reported.

The company hopes to work with the Pentagon to find out "what it's going to take to keep the YouTube site up," company co-founder Chad Hurley told AP.

"They said it might be a bandwidth issue, but they created the Internet, so I don't know what the problem is."

The Defense Dept. also cited "security issues" as a reason for blocking the websites, although soldiers overseas may still visit the sites via Internet cafes not on the government's network.

Defense Information Systems Agency Vice Director Rear Adm. Elizabeth Hight told AP that soldiers in the field were "overwhelmingly supportive" of the move.

"Remember, the people that we're talking to are people who depend on this network, to get the job done," Hight said. "The network is there to make sure the soldier, sailor, airman and Marine can accomplish the mission."

Related Links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070517/ap_on_hi_te/youtube_military_1

http://tinyurl.com/253zr5 (DMW previous coverage)