I can't speak for all roots, but I can tell you that I've
yet to see The Pacroot servers fail and that system has been around since 1985 (Nomad
Internetwork). I have noted failures in the DoC root server system, and certainly
the loss of .com last year. Those servers fail on a regular basis. Read
the domain policy archives. The beauty of it all is that you have a choice of which
roots to point to, don't you? If you think one is faulty, switch. I've
used pacroot for a long time with no problems (http://www.pacific.root.com/updatedns.shtml).You
might want to post where your information came from and be a bit more specific as
to the failures. I'm sure the root server operators would like to know about
it.
I also fail to understand how machines cooperate (or not) with other machines.
Root servers are machines. In addition, root managers may compete, but are
working very diligently to resolve conflicting TLD issues. Some date back many
years and are being resolved now. Aside from new.net, there are very few conflicts.
Which "alternate servers" have taken TLDs from others anyway? They are incapable
of doing so.
In the end, it will be organizations like the TLDA that will work
out differences cooperatively and determine technical standards and best practices
for operating TLDs. ICANN certainly hasn't. They've tried to dictate
business models, though. It's not the roots that count, you know. It's the
TLDs. The TLD holders as a trade association will get together and work things
out. DoC can join in - or not - but membership will certainly be open to them
and all other TLd holders.