IPv8: Lone engineer proposes simpler Internet addressing, triggers outcry

Network veteran James Thain didn't intend to rewrite the Internet; he merely wanted to create a turn-key Internet server stack. But he found it was easier to extend the current Internet Protocol (IP) into something entirely new, rather than adopt the next-generation IPv6 for his project.

So, with a few days off for medical leave, he drafted his update of the venerable Internet Protocol, one of the base protocols for routing data across the Internet

With help from AI, he created a proposal for what he calls IPv8 within five days. He sent the draft to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which accepted the work as an individual contribution. And then all heck broke loose.

"Is this some sort April Fools joke?" commented Andrew Palardy on the IETF mailing list. "How quickly can we reject this?"