Feds Lag on Internet Protocol Upgrade

A deadline for US federal agencies to support an upgrade to the current Internet communications protocol, which would provide much-needed new IP addresses, is likely to come and go without much changing. Agencies' networks must be capable of running IPv6 within 6 months, but observers estimate most won't actually make the switch, reports Network World.

The current Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) is running out of IP addresses, but one industry insider says IPv6 doesn't offer enough other benefits to motivate agencies to adopt it. Still, an IPv6 proponent says the federal mandate is a start bceause it requires US suppliers to support the new protocol: "The US government has said: If you want to do business with me, you will do IPv6." (More IPv6 stories.)