Last blocks of IPv4 IP addresses allocated

It may not be a sign of the coming apocalypse, but it does mark a watershed moment in the development of the Internet: the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is on the verge of handling out the last unallocated addresses in the Internet’s IPv4 address space. The IANA is currently down to five unallocated “Class A” blocks of 16 million addresses each; under IANA and ICANN rules, those blocks will now be allocated (one each) to the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs)—the African Network Information Center, the American Registry for Internet Numbers, the Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre, the Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre, and RIPE NCC (Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre). This means there are effectively no more unassigned Internet addresses available for ISPs and others to expand the number of machines they have connected to the Internet.