The Battle Over Africa’s Great Untapped Resource: IP Addresses

In his mid-20s, Lu Heng “got an idea that has made him a lot richer,” writes the Wall Street Journal.

He scooped up 10 million unused IP addresses, mostly form Africa, and then leases them to companies, mostly outside Africa, “that need them badly.”

[A]round half of internet traffic continues to use IPv4, because changing to IPv6 can be expensive and complex and many older devices still need IPv4. Companies including Amazon, Microsoft and Google still want IPv4 addresses because their…