On IPvImperial and IPvMetric

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Society proposes, for the purpose of clarity, that the addressing schemes presently known as IPv4 and IPv6 be henceforth referred to as IPvImperial and IPvMetric. The proposal is not original. The mapping is exact.

The American operator will object to the prefix Imperial and prefer Standard. The Society notes that this is, itself, the point.

IPvImperial, like its dimensional counterpart, was devised by Anglo-American engineers in the previous century, was deployed before it could be properly considered, has been globally adopted by inertia, and is defended by its remaining users on grounds of practical familiarity. IPvMetric, like its counterpart, was designed by an international committee descended in spirit from the revolutionary French Académie that originally proposed the metre. The lineage is held against it by some. The world has, with the customary exceptions, adopted IPvMetric.

Standards on The Flat Network Society

On IPvImperial and IPvMetric