Forum Post: IPv6
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 29, 2011, 2:51 p.m. EST by jkintree
(84)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
The Internet is the tool of the revolution; a tool to facilitate the formation of a nonviolent, self-organized, grassroots, global decision making body. The Internet is currently being upgraded from IPv4 to IPv6.
Since Linux, Microsoft Windows, and the Apple OS have supported IPv6 for years already, almost all of the PCs, tablets, smartphones and so on that people use for Internet access today can work with IPv6. Many of the biggest Internet resources and applications, such as Google, already support IPv6, also. Where much of the upgrading remains to be done is with routers that are used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Aside from the enormous increase in the number of unique IP addresses that IPv6 provides compared with IPv4, there are a number of other desirable features that are built into IPv6. These include:
- end-to-end encryption for secure transmission of packets from source to destination
- prioritization to give lower latency to certain traffic, such as voice communications
- multi-casting for more efficient transmission of one-to-many content such as realtime video
Something else to anticipate, since each Internet access device will eventually have its own unique IP address, it will be possible for any citizen of planet Earth to run server software as well as client software on their devices. Why not? A $50 Aakash tablet computer today is superior in almost every respect (processor, memory, storage, network connection) compared with the expensive servers in 1980 when IPv4 was just beginning to operate. This should be fun.
If you are interested in this I suggest looking into i2p2, a network committed to a truly free (of censorship) internet, facilitated by anonymous, encrypted, communication. Although there are drawbacks (people with repugnant dispositions sometimes utilize it), I believe that on a fundamental level having honest, uncensored communication that cannot later be used against you (because it can't be traced to you) is a cornerstone of democracy and health dissent.
Thanks, RightsOfMan. I was not aware of i2p2. Yes, a mechanism by which citizens can publically make anonymous statements of opinion and observation is important.
One application would be protecting fundamental human rights. For instance, a citizen might be a victim or a witness to a modern practice of slavery. Citizens need a way to report such violations of rights without subjecting themselves or their families to reprisals.
There should also be an open database of such reports that could be updated with outcomes of investigations of the allegations of rights violations, and with actions taken to correct these violations.
Hmm, just read a review of the $50 Aakash tablet computer that said its performance is sluggish. Compared with 1980 technology, we ask our computers to do a lot more for us today, such as a touchscreen interface, and we ask them to do it with incredible energy efficiency.
A solar panel that is about one foot square might be enough to provide the power for most any tablet or smartphone device on the market these days. In the future, our solar panels will likely have IP addresses, as will our thermostats and external batteries and many other appliances. We might want IPv6 to help manage all of this. All of these things are the tools of the revolution.