Slashdot Mirror
MIT Technology Review Slams IPv6
PCM2 writes "In the MIT Technology Review, Simson Garfinkel, noted author of Internet security books, writes that "the next version of the Internet Protocol, IPv6, will supply the world with addresses by the trillions. Too bad it will also make the Net slower and less secure." His article goes on to explain that all IPv6 code is untested and therefore insecure; that IPv6 makes encourages 'peer-to-peer based copyright violation systems'; and of course, that the switch is never going to happen anyway (and yet, somehow, the United States is 'falling behind')."
MIT is one of the great hogs of current IP addresses, maybe if issues like this were addressed no knew system would be neccesary.
vampirical
Well sure the ipv6 code isn't as tested as ipv4 and might be insecure at first... But did that stop the internet from being built on ipv4? It's a stupid argument against upgrading to a new technology.
Cthulhu Saves.
Once upon a time, the entire internet was shut down for a day or so to switch over to IPV4. We survived. I suspect we would survive the switchover to IPV6, especially since it won't require a complete shutdown. It will be a lot like the current situation for VGA monitors; nobody really worries too much about the folks still running 640x480 anymore. Likewise, when IPV6 starts to take over, people will gradually switch over until a critical mass develops, after which the rest of the world will follow very quickly. Then after a while, most of the world will stop catering to anybody still running V4. That doesn't mean that everybody will switch then, but the ones that don't will simply pay the price in inconvenience.
I didn't really follow the assertion that V6 would be less secure -- I expect that any such problem will be quickly fixed, and probably long before the majority of folks actually make the switch. As for the timing, I don't think it will be as long as Mr. Weekly says. I think that 2005 is a reasonable prediction for V6 reaching critical mass.
--
Insurance for H1-Bs: http://www.H1Bins.com
Healthcare for the uninsurable: http://www.AFFHC.com
Medigap insurance information: http://medigap.supremesite.net
Concealed Handgun License Courses in Plano, Texas
Getting everybody's home machine out from being a NAT box should make possible a lot of interesting applications that are either very difficult or downright impossible today. And in all likelihood, some of those applications will not be popular with the Recording Industry Association of America or the Motion Picture Association of America, both of which have taken the lead against peer-to-peer networks. As soon as they understand what a threat IPv6 is to their police actions, they are likely to start fighting against.
I have no strong opinions on the technical merits of IPv6 but I want to address the above statement, and the (IMHO) wrongheaded mentality behind it.
Why should the fact that these monopolistic groups oppose new, useful technologies, lead anyone to the conclusion that those technologies should be abandoned? Shouldn't we rather abolish the MPAA and RIAA?
When the light bulb was invented, did anyone argue we should abandon it because the candlestick industry would oppose it?
The truth is that new digital technologies are making "content" businesses like those represented by the *AA's obsolete. There is no benefit to society to engage in costly, counterproductive and futile "wars" against P2P and other useful new technologies in the name of enforcing "intelectual property" laws created in a different era that now benefit only special interests and not the public interest.
IIRC, MIT has a class B IP range, meaning it has 255^3, or 16,581,375 IP addresses. while China and South Korea--with a combined population of more than 1.3 billion--have been allocated 38.5 million and 23.6 million respectively. Does that sound unfair to anyone? MIT having 6139 students, plus faculty and staff, compared to China having over 1 billion people. China as a whole barely has over twice what MIT has in IP allocation, while having 160,000 times more people. I believe this is a biased, pointless article, written by a moron who does not realize the enormity of what he's saying. Many Asian countries are literally running out of IP addresses, and he's complaining about "lack of security", and thinks that no routers support IPv6 (Pretty much ALL Cisco routers support IPv6 flawlessly.) This man does not know what he's talking about.
got sig?