For many years the internet address registry for Europe and the Middle East RIPE has managed a scarce resource: IPv4 addresses. Since September, IPv4 addresses have run out. At the 66th meeting of the RIPE community in Dublin this week, discussions addressed the question of whether the end of the IPv4 protocol should also mean abandoning the “needs based principle” in allocating addresses. If so, could this serve as a stepping-stone for the new IPv6 protocol?