Scope scope = new Scope();
    byte[] addr = ipStringToBytes(ipString, scope);

    // The argument was malformed, i.e. not an IP string literal.
    if (addr == null) {
      throw formatIllegalArgumentException("'%s' is not an IP string literal.", ipString);
    }

    return bytesToInetAddress(addr, scope.scope);
  }

  /**