IPv4 sunset date set for 2019-12-31

Thu Oct 21 21:31:17 UTC 2010

> This doesn't mean IPv4 will disappear. Just like the 20+ year old machines that are still on the net via IPv4 -> legacy protocol gateways, pockets of IPv4 may exist for decades via similar devices -- but at that point, we just dismiss those guys as crackpots.

Maybe not quite crackpots, but you are right that a sunset date is
really a marketing device, and if done as a manifesto, would gain a
lot of publicity. If the manifesto has a clause that allows a
signatory to keep running IPv4 for specialist purposes that are not
core to the public Internet, then what will happen is that the public
will force the sunset to happen. But behind the scenes people will
still be using it just as they are still running X.25 networks today,
out of the glare of the public eye.

For this to work you need a team of sensible people to put some effort
into crafting a workable manifesto that network operators would
actually be willing to sign. 2019 seems like a date the people could
actually commit to, in fact even 2016 may be workable and is perhaps
desirable because it will be within the planning horizon of a lot of
folks starting next year.

--Michael Dillon