{"id":30367,"date":"2025-07-29T18:25:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T18:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lacnic.net\/?p=30367"},"modified":"2025-07-29T18:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T18:31:07","slug":"ipv6-digital-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lacnic.net\/en\/ipv6-digital-memorial\/","title":{"rendered":"When IP Addresses Tell Stories: A Digital Tribute in IPv6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Alejandro Acosta<\/a>, R+D Coordinator at LACNIC<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This blog post is based on IETF draft https:\/\/datatracker.ietf.org\/doc\/draft-richardson-in-memoriam\/<\/a> and the related email discussion, which can be followed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Context<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a community that has been shaping the very essence of the Internet for decades. As the IETF approaches its 40th<\/sup> anniversary in 2026 and with a history of more than 55 years of the RFC series, it is inevitable that many of its key contributors have retired or passed away. Although prominent figures such as Jon Postel and Jun-ichiro Hagino have been honored through awards, current mechanisms are not scalable given the growing number of people who have made valuable contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has led to \u201cdraft-richardson-in-memoriam-00\u201d, authored by Michael Richardson \u2014 an Internet Draft that proposes a novel way to posthumously recognize key contributors to the IETF by dedicating specific IPv6 addresses as memorials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The Proposal: A \/64 Prefix for Remembrance*<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The main idea behind this draft is to assign a unique \/64 IPv6 prefix from the IANA Special Use pool specifically for memorials. This new prefix would be called the “IETF In-Memoriam prefix” and would involve the creation of a new sub-registry maintained using the IESG Approval process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>How Would Digital Memorials Work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n