Ted
(Not wearing any hats)On Tue, Jan 2, 2018 at 9:08 AM, Dave Burstein <daveb@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I've mostly been a lurker here, but I working on a story I'd welcome help for. This is for Netpolicynews.com.What technical measures will be needed for "robust interconnection" if Russia and the BRICS create their own root? Vladimir Putin is creating an alternate root, with support from India and China.*
They say they are afraid ICANN might shut them off as part of U.S. sanctions. That seems unlikely to me but not crazy; U.S. Senators have called for blocking Russia from SWIFT, the international banking system. Russia has built an alternative, "just in case."
Censorship is a real issue but my question here is technical.How could we make that work, if everyone is acting in good faith? (Unproven, of course.)I'm on the U.S. State Department ITAC and know the U.S. position is that DNS must be controlled by ICANN (which does a decent job.)Columbia Professor Eli Noam convinced me a "network of networks" was possible. With "robust interconnection" Noam and ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadi confirmed to me there was no technical reason the Chinese, Hebrews, Verizon or any other competent party couldn't set up independently. With "robust inteerconnection" the primary benefits of "The Internet" could be maintained. Fadi added the rub was how to ensure that robust interconnection.
Thousands of people, especially at the IETF, have worked to build the Internet we have today. The principles are simple; the implementation is demanding. So I'm asking engineers, "What technical systems must must be built to ensure robust interconnection, assuming everyone wants to work in good faith?"Thoughts welcomed, on and off list. I have sources on the policy questions, but not on the technical side.
For the background.Russia Orders Alternate Root Internet System
Professor Noam's Many Internets;
ICANN Continues Excluding Russia & China From the Board
ICANN CEO's Promise to China of a Seat At The Table
* ICANN, a California corporation subject to U.S. law, may already be legally obligated to shut down any URLs connected to Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov. He's a thug, but didn't do anything on Facebook to cause him to be blocked from his 4M followers.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephan Mnuchin has threatened to block the Russians and Chinese from the essential international banking system SWIFT. In response, the Russians have built an alternative. Setting up similar may be a sensible precaution.