[arin-ppml] "Millions of Internet Addresses Are Lying Idle"(slashdot)

[michael.dillon at bt.com]

> Yes.  But there is also a lot of space attached to gum at the 
> bottom of the shoe of the network admin who was involved in 
> its assignment.
> 
> We should at least try to recover this space, instead of just 
> blinking in the headlights.

Recovering all these bits and pieces of IP address space requires
a lot of effort which costs money. For instance, imagine two
/23 subnets with 7 hosts apiece due to consolidation of servers
onto more powerful hardware. You can get back a /24 if you renumber 
both of those subnets.

But who in their right mind is going to invest money in doing this
when IPv6 is staring them right in the face. Those headlights that
you mentioned, belong to the new IPv6 Internet, and over the next
three years every ISP will have to invest money in preparation for
this new era.

--Michael Dillon