Other nations could beat the US on the internet

[Rockefeller]

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NEW YORK (Fortune) -- In the largest such survey ever conducted, 86 percent of a group of more than 1,000 experts on the next-generation Internet say they worry that the head start of other nations will hurt the United States.

They fear that China, India, and many European and Asian countries are moving faster to implement the addressing scheme known as Internet Protocol version 6, or IPv6. The new protocol will enable much longer numerical web addresses, the underlying data which tells URLs like Fortune.com where to go.

IPv6, as I wrote in May, is more than just a way to create more Web sites. It will enable much more secure network transactions, as well as dramatically better mobile use of the net.

Today there is room for about 4.3 billion Web addresses. About 1.2 billion of them are controlled by users in the United States. In the new scheme, Web addresses will be made up of 128 bits of information, unlike the 32 bits used today, and a vastly greater number of addresses will be available...<more>

 

[Steen]

The US has long been criticized for its lack of attention to internet technologies. In terms of broadband... the country is way behind.