Ted
I'm a network guy, not a DNS/TCP/etc geek, which is why I reached out.
re: RFC 2826 requirement for a "globally unique public name space," I would think that could have several different technical solutions beyond a single root. The Google & Amazon clouds and worldwide distributed databases show many possibilities, I would think. Two occur to this layman:
Roots that regularly update each other, so that both have the same data. Something similar is in the current replication system and in the Google server system. If that were cut, Russia would have many choices to go on, including buying transit in a neutral country.
Separate roots that maintained logically separated data. For example, .ru, .cn, all TLDs with Chinese Russian or Portuguese could be in the new system. Queries could automatically go based on TLDs. Cached and duplicate servers could pull from both,
But I could be wrong about this, which is why I'm reaching out before printing anything.
The Russian decision came from the State Council with a 6 month deadline. It still could be stopped but I think should be addressed before it creates a crisis.
------------------
The "Nobody who pays any attention to ICANN (inside or out) thinks ICANN should get wound up in politics over who is the Correct Internet People," seems right to me. But we may not have any choice in the matter, according to the lawyers for Facebook and the Internet Society.
At the request of the U.S. government, Facebook just canceled the account of Ramzan Kadyrov, ruler of Chechnya, with 4M followers. They claimed it was required by U.S. law. The U.S. gov put him on an enemies list. The guy appears to be a murderous thug who should be in jail, not running a country, but no evidence was presented he did anything wrong on Facebook. You have to protect the free speech of people you despise or it can be lost by everyone.
At the Internet Society, Kathy Brown revoked the travel funds that had been awarded to an Iranian to go to an IGF in Mexico City. It broke the Iranian embargo and ISOC didn't even seek n exemption.
ICANN probably would have no choice but to obey a court order to shut down connections to Palestine, where a majority supported Hamas, on U.S. terrorist lists. What if the factions we oppose took over Libya, Somalia, or Mali.
I've said from the beginning I think an ICANN boycott of Russia was unlikely but it's not crazy to fear it. ICANN is a U.S. corporation under U.S. law.
So I believe it's time to think about this.
Dave