> Isn't it a bit idiotic to hard code refusal to route addresses reserved for "future use"?
they were reserved for multicast, back when everyone thought TV/movies would be distributed through the web. Multicast (1 server stream sending to lots of clients) never really took off though....
It's not so much a "refusal to route" to them as they are handled specially, and aren't designed to be routed as normal. Lots of home routers (eg my WRT54) will occasionally send out multicast broadcast packets onto the LAN, which you can see with a network capture tool.
If A = B and B = C, then A = C, except where void or prohibited by law. -- Roy Santoro