- The amount of spam e-mails rapidly increases (now already 94 percent of the total e-mail traffic, evl), and correct e-mails get more and bigger attachments. Almost half of all office employees send between five and ten e-mail attachments a day, and 31 percent send ten to twenty attachments a day in e-mails. This accounts for huge pressure on the network.
- The amount of available IP-addresses is ending. As only real solution the new version of IP, IPv6, was developed ten years ago. In the Netherlands, Europe and the US this version hasn't been used very much yet, although China started using it in 2006.
- Energy consumption is earth-rocking. 50 percent of the money spent on computers goes to electricity companies. If we don't take action, this will rise to 71 percent over the coming 4 years, research shows us. These costs will be passed on to consumers.
This might seem to be a negative message, but the reality will be (much) worse. This year, the Captcha code will definitively be cracked. This code is there to distinguish people from computers, by typing in a special code. Computers soon will be able to do this too, and in the end even much better than real people. That means that blogs, websites, registration forms, and e-mail account applications will be heavily loaded by spammers, which will lead to a totally new wave of spam. In the end, the internet will be useless. Which will have tremendous economic and social impact.
We need to get the worldwide insight that we are using a network that wasn’t designed for consumer use. There will have to be a world organization with 100 percent mandate, which will have to regulate the internet and its protocols. And national governments will have to develop internet proof of identity for individuals, like the normal passport. A worldwide standard with local publishing organizations. A sort of DigID, but on a worldwide scale. We will need a heavy crisis before we dare to give so much power to one world party. But in the end we will have to get there. And we will get there. Not fun, but good. There is no other way.