The Company You Keep

This story started earlier this year, with a posting to the Australian network operators’ mailing list, asking if anyone had more information about why the web site that was operated by an outfit called “Melbourne Free University” was inaccessible through a number of major Australian ISPs. When they asked their…


APNIC Labs IPv6 Measurement System

For some years now at APNIC Labs we’ve been conducting a measurement exercise intended to measure the extent to which IPv6 is being deployed in the Internet. This is not a measurement of IPv6 traffic volumes, nor of IPv6 routes, nor of IPv6-capable servers. This is a measurement of the…


But That’s Impossible!

For some time now at APNIC Labs we’ve been running an experiment that is intended to measure the state of IPv6 capability across the Internet. To do this we use a number of experimental data sources. A number of web site administrators have kindly put our Javascript test code on…


Measuring DNSSEC Performance

There are a number of reasons that both domain name administrators and vendors of client DNS software cite for not incorporating DNSSEC signing into their offerrings. The added complexity of the name administration process when signatures are added to the mix, the challenges of maintaining current root trust keys, and…


A Primer on IPv4, IPv6 and Transition

There is something badly broken in today’s Internet. At first blush that may sound like a contradiction in terms, or perhaps a wild conjecture intended only to grab your attention to get you to read on. After all, the Internet is a modern day technical marvel. In just a couple…


DNSSEC and Google’s Public DNS Service

The Domain Name System, or the DNS, is a critical, yet somewhat invisible component of the Internet. The world of the Internet is a world of symbols and words. We invoke applications to interact with services such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, and the interaction is phrased in human readable…


Literally IPv6

As many who have worked with computer software would attest, software bugs come in many strange forms. This month I’d like to relate a recent experience I’ve had with one such bug that pulls together aspects of IPv6 standard specifications and interoperability.


“Multi-Stakeholderism” and the Internet Policy Debate

With WICT-12 over, and now the preparation for the forthcoming WTPF underway, and of course also we have the WTDC and WTISD coming up, one could be excused for thinking that that world famous, but hopelessly unintelligible, cartoon character from the 80’s and 90’s, Bill the Cat, has come out…


Addressing 2012 – Another One Bites the Dust!

Time for another annual roundup from the world of IP addresses. What happened in 2012 and what is likely to happen in 2013? This is an update to the reports prepared at the same time in previous years, so lets see what has changed in the past 12 months in…


Calling Stumps at WCIT: Win, Lose or Draw?

The problem with setting expectations is that when they are not fulfilled the fallout is generally considered to be a failure, and while everyone wants to claim parenthood of success, failure is an orphan. In that sense it looks like the WCIT meeting, and the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs) that…