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IP address trade may start in '10
[December 22, 2009]

IP address trade may start in '10


TOKYO, Dec 21, 2009 (The Yomiuri Shimbun - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The trading of Internet Protocol addresses is expected to be permitted here by the end of next year as a measure against a possible worldwide shortage of IP addresses within the next two years, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.



By allowing IP addresses to be traded, the industry is hoping that addresses currently going unused will be brought back into the fold.

An IP address is a number assigned to a device, such as a computer, to identify it while it is on the Internet. Just as mail with no address will not reach its recipient, an exchange of information -- such as e-mail -- would not be possible without these numerical addresses.


In Japan, the Japan Network Information Center allocates IP addresses and charges a maintenance fee to businesses such as Internet providers, in accordance with the IP address numbers.

According to the Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo-based organization, the current system allows for about 4.3 billion IP addresses globally. At present, 90 percent of the addresses are in use and the center estimates the remaining 400 million addresses will run out within the next two years--accompanied by a surge in Internet users in emerging economies.

One way the shortage is being combatted is through the use of next-generation IP addresses -- with nearly limitless protocols. However, as the current IP system and the next-generation system are incompatible, next-generation IP addresses have yet to be fully adopted.

At the moment, demand for IP addresses from the existing system is high. An estimated 150 million IP addresses are owned, but going unused. If these are brought back into circulation, it would stave off depletion for a further year.

Europe lifted the ban on trading IP addresses about a year ago; the United States did so in June. Japan was allocated about 100 million IP addresses. If additional demand arises, the country will have to apply for more through an international organization.

JPNIC has only reclaimed about 1.2 million dormant IP addresses, and the organization is hoping to recycle unused addresses by lifting the trade ban.

The JPNIC will permit the direct selling of IP addresses through Internet providers and similar businesses, and will not be involved in the buying and selling.

To see more of The Yomiuri Shimbun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.yomiuri.co.jp and www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm Copyright (c) 2009, The Yomiuri Shimbun Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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