Slashdot Mirror
Black Market May Develop For IPv4 Addresses
GMGruman writes "Everyone knows that we're running out of traditional IPv4 Internet addresses and that switching to IPv6 is the answer — yet foot-dragging by IT departments and vendors means the problem is still on the back burner. IPv4/IPv6 coexistence is now expected to last for 5 years. In this article, Mel Beckman explains how this is all leading to a black market in traditional IPv4 addresses that will catch many people off-guard, and boost Internet access prices sky-high."
What a bunch of crap. Congrats for getting /. to repeat it. This is all crap.
Now go worrying about something real...
This isn't it.
E
Seems more likely that what will happen is that all "normal users" get RFC1918 IPv4 addresses.
/8 public IPv4 range can then serve 16 to 32 billion users.
So you could have say 1000 to 2000 ISP users behind one ISP public IPv4 address, which will be shared to access the Internet. One
Stuff like WoW, google, facebook, gmail, IM will still work.
But running a public server, Bittorrent and other P2P stuff will be difficult. If you are lucky the ISP might allow you to serve to peers within each RFC1918 "district".
The Media Companies and Powers-That-Be might consider this a feature and not a problem. Since this means locking in to a world of few talkers and many listeners.
You have just pointed out the reason why a number of providers are dragging there feet about switching
They don't have to train anyone, hire anyone else, update any hardware, just sit and wait and in a couple of years everybody will be screaming.
"WE'RE OUT OF IP's , WE'RE OUT OF IP's"
It will make it to the business section 2 columns half a page, one paragraph explaining solution. But most of the article will talk about the shortage and the burden it has placed on ISP's who now have to manage and ration IP addresses. So that $5 IP address is now $12 dollars/month. They have now increased their cash intake 140% doing nothing.
So the only way this is going to happen is if someone like Google,Motorola,Nokia, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, becomes truly hampered by this and see a loss of product growth do to it. Then the money will flow to Congress and they will have a hearing on how the industry can't manage itself and eventually pass regulations requiring usage of IPv6.
I can't wait for the analogy of the big pipe having many little pipes with addresses (I may start taking book on which Congress man does it first).
This may also be a wonderful time for the ISP's to explain why they must control the flow of traffic with certain cost penalties. Partially so they can recoop the 140% gain for doing nothing they will loose if they cooperate.
I can't tell whether I'm being insightful or funny, please tell me.