Dan York

The Internet Society’s own Chief Internet Technology Officer, Leslie Daigle, wrote a guest article for Forbes on “6 Reasons Why Businesses Should Deploy IPv6 Now.”

With World IPv6 Launch on everyone’s mind, more and more people are tuning into the need for IPv6. Leslie’s article provides sound advice for organizations of all sizes. Leslie maintains a focus on WHY IPv6 is so important, and sums it up  nicely with this:

Without new addresses, the Internet as we know it – a platform for realizing innovation and building new services and applications – cannot grow to connect more people and devices. Without a new way forward, billions of people will never get to use new Internet services and applications that are on the drawing boards of today’s companies and in the imaginations of tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.

She then goes into six main reasons to deploy IPv6:

• Prevent Increased Costs
• Prevent Disruption to Your Websites
• Grow Your Global Business
• Maintain Customer Experience and Access to Your Supply Chain
• It’s Ready to Deploy Today
• Your Competitors are Doing It

Here we are… 00:00 UTC on June 6, 2012.  The beginning of a “new normal” for the global Internet where IPv6 is permanently enabled on over 3,000 registered websites and many, many more out there. Over 60 network operators / ISPs have committed to enabling IPv6 for their customers… and leading home router vendors have committed to enabling IPv6 by default for all their new products.

This is it… no more test flight… this time it is for real!

The Internet as we know it is changing fundamentally and for the better, launching a new era of innovation and communication that is no longer shackled by the legacy limitations of IPv4.

Over the next 24 hours, we’ll be streaming news and information out of the World IPv6 Launch Twitter account, and the website is steadily rolling out videos from Launch participants and Internet Society Chapters over the next 24 hours. Stay tuned for more…

… and welcome to the new Internet!

Want to listen in live to a discussion about World IPv6 Launch with Vint Cerf, one of the “Fathers of the Internet” and currently Chief Internet Evangelist at Google?

Tomorrow, June 5, one day before the big launch, Vint Cerf will be participating in a Google+ Hangout On Air at 12 noon US Pacific time. He will be discussing what is happening as part of World IPv6 Launch and will be answering questions from reporters and others gathered in the hangout.

At 12 noon PDT tomorrow, you will be able to listen in via Google+ by going to the Hangout link on Google’s Google+ page at:

https://plus.google.com/116899029375914044550/posts

(The Hangout link will not be available until it is live tomorrow.  If we learn of another way to promote the link to the session in advance we’ll update this post with the info.)

The session will be recorded and made available on YouTube.  We’ll post a link here once the archive is available.

With World IPv6 Launch happening on Wednesday, we were delighted to see the news that not only is Netflix making their website available over IPv6, but now they are actually streaming videos over IPv6!  Last week, Josh Evans posted to the Netflix Technical Blog an article that included this information:

For Netflix, our initial IPv6 deployment involves the Netflix website and video streaming on the PC and Mac platforms. We will follow on with other streaming platforms. There’s no action required for Netflix members. We’ll continue to support IPv4, and IPv6 will simply work when your ISP “lights up” support in their networks.

Netflix had joined the list of World IPv6 Launch website participants back in April, but it is outstanding to now receive word that their streaming infrastructure will also support IPv6.

Kudos to the Netflix team for making this happen – and this provides a huge boost to video content availability over IPv6!  Now, native users of IPv6 will be able to stream video from both YouTube and Netflix… who will be the next video provider to embrace the future of the Internet?

World IPv6 Launch starts in just about 34 hours, at 00:00 UTC on Wednesday, June 6, 2012.

What are YOU doing to be part of the event?

Have you enabled your website(s) to be available over IPv6?

Have you set up your home network with IPv6?

Are you already one of the thousands of participants in the Launch?

Are you ready for the day when the Internet gets a “new normal”?

If not, how can we help you get ready?  Check out our list of IPv6 resources – or let us know how we can help you.

If you are all ready and are participating, why not record a quick video and tell us about what YOU are doing?

On Wednesday, we’ll be celebrating with videos and blog posts telling the story of how the Internet is changing… we’d love to include your story as part of that mix!

Why are you excited about World IPv6 Launch?  What have you done to prepare your network or websites to participate in the event?  What has your company or organization done? Why do you want to see IPv6 available to everyone? How do you see IPv6 making a better Internet?

On June 6, 2012, starting at 00:06 UTC, we’ll be using the World IPv6 Launch YouTube channel to share out your videos helping celebrate the event!  We’ve already received some great contributions from some of the participants and from some Internet Society Chapters -  now we want to add YOUR story!

Want to join in the celebration?  Here’s what we ask:

1. Record a short video answering some of these questions (whichever ones you want):

• Why do you think IPv6 deployment is important?
• What are you doing personally to prepare for World IPv6 Launch?
• What is your company doing to prepare for World IPv6 Launch?
• What does the Internet look like when the next 5 billion people come online?

The video doesn’t need to be fancy… using your webcam, mobile phone or whatever is perfectly fine.

The video doesn’t need to be long… a 1 or 2 minute video is great!  We just want to share the stories.

2. Upload the video to YouTube. When you upload the video to your account, please add the tag “v6launch” to the video so that other people can easily find these videos through searching.

3. Send us the link to your video! Please send an email message with the link to:

worldipv6launch@isoc.org

That’s it!  We’ll include as many as possible in our playlist and publishing.

DEADLINE – PLEASE SEND US THE LINK TO YOUR VIDEO BY THE END OF THE DAY ON MONDAY, JUNE 4th!

We will be queueing up all the videos on Tuesday, June 5th, so we need the links by the end of the day on Monday, June 4th.

This is your chance to share the story of what you and/or your company/organization have done to help make IPv6 the “new normal” for the Internet!

Thanks for participating and joining us in this celebration!

As an example of the type of video we’re looking for, here’s my (Dan York) contribution to the video stream:

On June 6, 2012, do you want to join in with others to participate in events related to World IPv6 Launch?  If so, check out the list of events hosted by Internet Society chapters throughout the world. Chapters throughout Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa, Australia… everywhere!

Keep checking the list, too, because more events are being added every day….

As we’ve noted before, today is the final day to register your website as an official participant in World IPv6 Launch.  While the launch is June 6, 2012, we are only taking registrations for official participants until the end of the day today.

Now, one important detail:

You do NOT have to have your website IPv6-enabled until June 6!

But you need to submit the participant registration form by the end of May 30th in order to be listed as a participant on our official list on the website.

The reason for the earlier deadline is that we need time to verify all registrations and also to make sure they all get included in the measurements that will be tracking IPv6 capabilities of the participants.

So if your website is already reachable over IPv6 – or if you think you can get it IPv6-enabled by June 6 (perhaps by using a CDN?) – please take a moment and fill out the form so that we can add your site to the ever-growing list.

Here’s your chance to be listed among the industry leaders who are being part of the movement that will change the Internet forever!

As a registered participant, your website will be included in the list that will be promoted in the marketing for the launch. People searching through the list will be able to see that you were part of the big event! Your site will also be included in the IPv6 measurements… which will continue after June 6th.

This is your chance to show your industry leadership to the global community! REGISTER AS A PARTICIPANT TODAY!

Not sure how to IPv6-enable your website?

We’ve posted steps for content providers to learn the options you have to IPv6-enable your website. In particular, take a look at what a content delivery network (CDN) can do to help IPv6-enable your site.

Check out the options – and get started today!

Note: If you can’t make (or miss) the registration deadline of May 30th, you certainly can still participate in World IPv6 Launch by doing whatever you can to IPv6-enable your site by June 6th. So please… go right ahead and do it! (We just won’t have you listed as an official participant unless you register by May 30th.)