ABSTRACT
The designers of the Internet of the future, as they debated the key parameters of the new Internet protocol IPng (now usually known as IPv6, Internet Protocol version 6), revealed both technical caution and their inclusive aspirations for the Internet. The language in the above quotation transcends typical technical
discourse and explicitly brings in social and ethical considerations: ‘it would be immoral not to consider that all humans will eventually be connected’. The IPv6 designers certainly wanted to ensure that Internet address space, if nothing else, would not become a scarce resource in the foreseeable future.
