Disgust in YouTube.

[patrick666]

By the way I don't think those soldier's Wives, Mothers, Fathers, Children volunteered to have their love ones death exploited in such a manner

Bang on.

War isn't pretty. That's a solid fact but that also doesn't mean people need to be exposed to it; wether they have a choice to watch it or not. Some things are better left on the battlefield.

I just don't believe in spreading something that would demoralize our side and encourage the other.  Why would you or others not associated with their cause wish to spread their propaganda for them?

That's exactly what I was trying to convey - excuse my initial outburst.

And sure, soldiers fight for our freedoms to upload videos of them being shot in the middle of the street, in the head, so people from all over the world can watch it and comment on it - whereas many of the comments are symptomatic of extremism and echo 'die american pigs die' sentiments. We have freedoms but we should also have respect for freedoms and for the people who die for them.

 

[larry Strong]

Have you ever watched  "World at War" or any of the thousands of war documentaries that are available? If so whats the difference (they have dying people also), besides the format and presentation??

Just for the record I have not watched the videos that started this thread..

 

[rz350]

Should we also ban the inverse? Videos of Americans and Canadians Killing Afghans? Its still not pleasant to view. (even if, like me, your rooting on our side, its still not a nice thing to view)

How about history? Say Germans killing Russians and Vice verse? Or Pictures from the Holocaust?

I think it is good to see all sides of things.

For one, seeing friendlies get killed makes me all the more glad I chose to join, as I would some day hope to join in the struggle.

It also makes me appreciate what our troops are doing all the more, it puts a very human, very real face on words like " X # of Canadians lost their lives defending our freedom" You really understand the sacrifice. It wasn't pretty what they did, but they did it, and we owe them all the respect in the world for it. Seeing what they did helps to understand it.

 

[MPIKE]

While I see both sides of Teflon and AV's comments, the thing that gets me going about YouTube is the lack of moderation in the comments section of any video there.  Try surfing through the endless police sections and see the comments from $h!trats who revel in a LEOs death. While I can see the lesson learned factor, I can't stomach the crap that is put into print there.  Too bad as the site has merit in its idea but is polluted by that form of freedom speech.

 

[IrishCanuck]

Why should people be coddled and sheltered from the hard realities of this world?

It's heartbreaking stuff.. but it's not going away.

 

[Koenigsegg]

At least one such video is on this site.  It is a compilation of American soldiers being sniped in Iraq, complete with music (I think).
I will not provide a link, as I feel that such videos should not be offered up in this setting.

 

[armyvern]

ArmyVern;

I don't remember comparing those videos with kiddie porn, read my post, I simply stated it as another case where I advocate censorship.

Since you take such a firm stance on censorship: : "Like I said, freedom of speech. Soldiers fought for our freedom of speech. Period. Full stop. It didn't come with a caveat." Then I take it you believe kiddie porn should be legal? remember no caveat?!! or is it OK because they volunteered to be soldiers? (sounds like an exception to me!) Censorship has it's place, now should I be the one to decide,... heavens NO but it has it's place!

By the way I don't think those soldier's Wives, Mothers, Fathers, Children volunteered to have their love ones death exploited in such a manner

Quite frankly Teflon,

What I support is freedom. And if I didn't, I'm in the wrong career. As a soldier you know full well that you don't fight with a caveat.  You don't choose what freedom you fight for, so DO NOT ACCUSE me of fighting for kiddie porn, videos of soldiers being killed etc. I fight for exactly the same reasons you and all our soldiers do. In defense of our freedom. Period. Full stop. Whenever my Government decides that I will do so.

My government also decides via the law, what these freedoms are.  Kiddie porn is illegal, for a reason (nothing consensual there), therefore it is censored via laws as it should well be.
Getting snipped at is an inherant risk of the soldier's duty. Nobody, families wives, etc wants their loved ones deaths' videotaped. That's common sense. But I'm wondering why you're stopping there. I'd bet those same families, loved ones of fallen soldiers from the Great Wars don't like picking up newspapers and history books to find pictures of what must be someones (maybe even their) loved one half-burried in the mud at Passchedaele, lying on the beachs of France etc. Surely you saw these pictures in your school days. Surely you could go to your local book store and find multitudes of Canadian history books with photos in them as I've described above.

Times have changed from the still photograph to the videotape. Soldiers dead and dying is never a nice thing to look at. But it's not anything new. If it was we'd better form up the work party now to begin removing all the History text books from Canadian classrooms because those soldiers never said they wanted their picture in death made public either. And we should also be prepared to quit complaining that the general public doesn't know what we go through or understand that war is hell.

 

[larry Strong]

Nicely put ArmyVern

 

[Hunter]

Interesting thread.  I've seen a few of those videos, and one thing that strikes me is the bad marksmanship of these 'snipers'.  I would love to see the videos from another angle though, so as to see the moment when the shooter realizes that the firing range is 2-way.

On the other hand, youtube has some really great videos of the CF in action.  Some even posted by army.ca members. 

 

[Stauds]

While I support freedom of speech and I am against censorship, I believe Utube, as an American website, has their duty to moderate their site. They should at least eliminate the comments of the videos. If nutcases like the ones who made those comments wish to express their feelings, then they can go and make their own website.

We were shown one of those videos during my last course, and our instructors filled us in on the parts that most people miss out. The video was where the American soldier walked around his vehicle, and got shot by an insurgent sniper. You could hear "Allah Akhbar" being said as well. Some of the clips of this video end there. We were shown the whole video, and the soldier got up, and ran for cover behind his vehicle. We were also told of how the dirt bags were killed and the video was found. The video has some educational benefit, although not much.

 

[Magravan]

I simply opt not to watch it. That's my decision... I agree that we have laws that are made with due consideration, and if those videos do not go against YouTube policy, or governmental property where YouTube's servers are located, then it is the decision of those who can choose to watch or not...

If you opt to watch them, you are free to express your outrage and disgust with it. Sadly, if idiots wish to slander the soliders, unless it breaks a law or goes against the policy of the website, they are also free to do so.

 

[patrick666]

I don't think they have any policies regarding discussion or submission as long as it does not violate any copyright and privacy laws, etc..

 

[old medic]

I don't think they have any policies regarding discussion or submission as long as it does not violate any copyright and privacy laws, etc..

There is just no icon or emoticon for how hard I'm rolling on the floor laughing at that one Patrick.
You should go over there and search for "music video". I don't think they have any sort of plausible copyright policy.

 

[patrick666]

. In connection with User Submissions, you further agree that you will not: (i) submit material that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner to post the material and to grant YouTube all of the license rights granted herein; (ii) publish falsehoods or misrepresentations that could damage YouTube or any third party; (iii) submit material that is unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, violate any law, or is otherwise inappropriate; (iv) post advertisements or solicitations of business: (v) impersonate another person.

I guess we're both wrong as far as submissions go. Sure looks like YouTube is right on top of it.

 

[Hunter]

Not tryng to hijack this thread, but Youtube is my favourite at-work distraction.  There are some really awesome tribute videos and action videos for Canadians in action.  There are even video clips taken from training exercises here in Canada.  One is a video of what looks like a brutal run through an assult course wearing gas masks.  Go on the site and do a search for canadian forces and you'll get a lot of videos worth watching.

FWIW here are a few of my favourites:
Tribute to the troops their families: http://youtube.com/watch?v=frtkT6SX9iQ   
A really funny Renault commercial: http://youtube.com/watch?v=OH9eLnhlHjc
First-person view of going off a 90-metre ski jump: http://youtube.com/watch?v=QP9xN6V5AVo
My personal favourite, my daughter singing 'Unwritten' by Natasha Bedingfield: http://youtube.com/watch?v=T1MWCKDkTEI

 

[armyvern]

I guess we're both wrong as far as submissions go. Sure looks like YouTube is right on top of it.

No one ever claimed that YouTube was even remotely run and moderated as highly professionally as Army.ca !! 

 

[Collin.t]

welcome to web 2.0, where the user is responsible for the content