Internet addresses could run out within weeks

The last of the 4 billion possible IPv4 internet addresses could be allocated within weeks according to the Internet Address and Naming Agency. The Asia-Pacific region got another two blocks while the rest of the world shared out the rest – the speed at which ISP’s request new addresses means that we could be completely out from a few weeks to a couple of months. Fear not though Tracy and Matt addicts, this is no Millennium Bug – the ‘fix’ has actually been around for a while – IPv6 which has the capacity for each human being to have trillions of addresses.

The issue here is that there isn’t wide-spread adoption of IPv6 quite yet. Windows Vista, 7 and the newer OS X and Linux operating systems all support IPv6 out of the box (though you’ll need an IPv6 compatible router). It’s now up to internet stakeholders to see IPv6 as a requirement rather than an option if the internet is to continue growing at its current phenomenal pace.

Posted by: Vince