Jason Lowery’s guide ‘Softwar: A Novel Principle on Energy Projection and the Nationwide Strategic Significance of Bitcoin’ has been retroactively subjected to a safety and coverage evaluation by the Division of Protection (DoD), affecting its distribution and availability.
The evaluation of a broadcast work by a serving army officer raises questions concerning the authorities’s potential alignment with nationwide safety protocols. Additional, the DoD’s choice to position the guide below safety evaluation might counsel it fears different nations adopting the theories it units out and needs to scale back its publication to make sure US dominance within the space.
As a US Area Power officer and analysis fellow at MIT, Lowery explores in “Softwar” the idea of Bitcoin’s proof-of-work mechanism as a type of cyber energy projection. He argues that Bitcoin may function a strategic asset for nationwide safety, proposing that its underlying know-how might remodel cybersecurity and fashionable warfare.
The DoD’s safety and coverage evaluation course of is designed to forestall unauthorized disclosure of categorized info and be sure that revealed supplies don’t battle with established insurance policies or compromise operations safety. Usually carried out earlier than publication, such opinions assess content material associated to army operations, technological developments, and nationwide safety points.
The retroactive nature of the evaluation suggests the DoD might have issues about delicate info inside the guide that would affect nationwide safety or reveal protected insights. This motion has resulted in limitations on the guide’s availability, mandated revisions, or different restrictions till the evaluation concludes.
Bodily copies of “Softwar” have reportedly develop into scarce, with costs rising to over $300 as a result of restricted provide. Whereas digital copies nonetheless flow into, the guide’s official distribution stays unsure, pending the result of the DoD’s evaluation. Additional, the copy archived by the Web Archive is presently unavailable following the positioning’s current breach.
Lowery’s thesis has garnered important consideration for its modern perspective on integrating Bitcoin into nationwide protection methods. By framing Bitcoin’s proof-of-work as a method to venture energy in our on-line world, he means that the digital asset may play a important position in securing digital info towards malicious actors and reshaping geopolitical energy buildings.