The Internet is running out of addresses.

With everything from smartphones to Internet-linked appliances and cars getting online, the group entrusted with organizing the Web is running out of the "IP" numbers that identify destinations for digital traffic.

The touted solution to the problem is a switch to a standard called IPv6 that allows trillions of Internet addresses, while the current IPv4 standard provides a meager four billion or so.

ICANN has been calling for a change to IPv6 for years but websites and Internet service providers have been clinging to the old standard since the birth of the Internet.

"One of the reasons it has taken so long to change is that there is no obvious advantage or killer application for IPv6," Colitti said.

The number of addresses that IPv6 allows for amounts to 340 "undecillion" (followed by 36 zeroes); enough for a trillion people to each be assigned trillions of IP numbers, according to ICANN chief Rod Beckstrom.

With about seven billion people on the planet, the IPv4 protocol doesn't allow for everyone to have a gadget with its own online address.

The situation has been equated to not having enough telephone numbers for everyone.

Once the supply of IPv4 addresses ICANN distributes to the five regional centers around the world are gone, computers and other gadgets might have to start sharing instead of having unique identifying numbers.

"You will start to share with your neighbors, and that causes problems because applications can't distinguish you apart," Colitti said. "If your neighbor ends up in a blacklist, you will too."

World IPv6 Day will start at 0001 GMT on June 8.

In a worst case scenario, running out of IPv4 addresses with no switch to IPv6 would mean new gadgets wouldn't be able to connect to the Internet because addresses weren't available, according to ICANN.

(以下是中文翻译)

全球互联网IP地址即将用尽。

受托管理互联网的机构表示，随着智能手机、联网电器，甚至联网汽车的出现，用来识别数字通信目的地的全球IP地址即将用尽。

针对这一棘手问题，最受青睐的一种解决方案是从目前的互联网通信协议“IPv4”转换到“IPv6”。IPv6可以提供数万亿个网络通信地址，而IPv4提供的地址大概只有40亿个，相比之下少得可怜。

国际互联网名称和编号分配公司(ICANN)早在几年前就开始呼吁转换到IPv6，但自从互联网出现以来，网站和互联网服务提供商一直不肯放弃IPv4。

工程师考莱迪说：“转换到IPv6耗时多年的原因之一是IPv6没有明显优势，或者杀手级应用软件。”

ICANN主席罗德?贝克斯托姆表示，IPv6可以提供海量的IP地址，确切地说，是340后面36个零，足够给1万亿人每人分配数万亿个IP地址。

而目前地球人口总计70万，IPv4协议还不够每人拥有一台配备独立网址的网络设备。

这就好比不能保证每个人拥有独立的电话号码。

一旦ICANN向全球五个地区中心分配的IPv4地址用光，电脑和其它网络设备也许不得不开始共享IP地址，而不是各自拥有独立IP地址。

考莱迪说：“你要开始和邻居共享IP，这会带来很多麻烦，因为软件无法区分开你们俩。一旦你的邻居被拉进黑名单，你也无法幸免。”

IPv6协议将从格林尼治时间6月8日起在全球使用。

ICANN称，如果出现最坏情况，IPv4地址用尽，但还没来得及转换到IPv6地址，那么新的网络设备就无法联网，因为已经没有IP地址可用了。