You may have been hearing reports in the media recently about a shortage of Internet (IP) addresses. What does this mean? How will it affect individuals and businesses? Will the Internet stop working? Here's a quick look at what IP addresses are, why there's a shortage of them, and what's being done about the current problem.

Depending on your technical background, you may be asking yourself, "What exactly is an IP Address?" Any device that connects to the Internet gets assigned an IP (Internet Protocol) address. When the Internet was first developed, the IP system was based on version four of the Internet Protocol (IPv4). A current IPv4 address includes up to 12 digits, which allows for roughly 4.2 billion individual IP addresses. This seems like a lot - but just as with telephone systems that run out of number options within an area code, we're starting to run short of addresses due to the millions of new phones, computers and other devices that connect to the web.

Fortunately, there is a solution to this impending shortage: IPv6. IPv6 works almost exactly like the current IPv4 system except that it has more than 12 digits - it's a hexadecimal system, incorporating a combination of 16 numbers as well as letters. This change provides a whole host (pardon the pun) of new addresses: an undecillion, to be exact (a billion, billion, billion, billion). Implementing IPv6 will take time, however, primarily because many existing devices do not support the new system.

Some people are comparing the address shortage to Y2K and wondering if we'll be ready in time before IP addresses run out. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which has overall control of net addresses in circulation, releases addresses in blocks of about 16 million; the blocks are known as a "/8". Today there are only about six of these /8s left. Some experts are warning that valid addresses could run out by September of this year, so rationing of IPs is already in place.

Are people prepared for the change?  IPv4 addresses will still be valid in the future, and fortunately, researchers have been working on IPv6 for more than 10 years, but according to reports on the subject, adoption and implementation has been slow. Some of the biggest Internet players, such as Google and Facebook, have been preparing for the upcoming change for many of their services, and some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are already quietly rolling out IPv6 to their subscribers. In addition, most recent operating systems (including Windows 7 and Linux) provide at least basic IPv6 support.

Unfortunately, other companies haven't been as quick to accept and address the implications of the upcoming change. While the Internet certainly won't stop working when addresses run out, experts suggest that there could be temporary, isolated slowdowns or unavailability of some websites and services if changes aren't made soon.