Internet running out of addresses

NEW YORK, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The current system that allocates Internet addresses is nearing the end of the trail, U.S. Internet expert Vint Cerf said.

The system, known as IPv4, devised in 1977, had room for 4.3 billion addresses, with one coded address assigned to each computer, phone, tablet reader or gaming device that can access the Internet.

That seemed to be plenty, way back when. Few in those days could imagine the world running out of addresses with a system that could reach 4.3 billion.

But a month ago, at a ceremony in Florida, the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as Icann, handed out the last five blocks of addresses to its registries, The New York Times reported Monday.

In 1977, "We thought we were doing an experiment. The problem was, the experiment never ended," said Cerf, who advocated for the system with a distant, but finite end point while at the R & D office at the Department of Defense, where the system was devised.

Some believe switching to the new system, IPv6, which has an almost infinite number of addresses available, will cause a substantial glitch in the Internet. Some major companies have been working on the transition for years, however, allowing some hope that the transition will be smooth, the Times said.

Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and others, including those who produce computers, have been working on the transition and operating systems from Apple and Microsoft have already made changes to allow for IPv6, the Times said.

"No one was caught off guard by this," said Rod Beckstrom, president and chief executive officer at Icann.

He said, however, "This is a major turning point in the ongoing development of the Internet."