Russia safeguarding itself from U.S. Internet rules

Russia's Security Council may discuss measures to ensure independence from the U.S.-managed Internet domain-names system amid economic sanctions, according to the Moscow-based Coordination Center for .RU domain.

"In case Russia is cut off from the global root domain system, we have a highly-reliable reserve variant, which may be discussed at the Security Council's meeting," the press office of the Coordination Center said by e-mail today. Users will then be redirected to root servers in Russia, it said.

The entire global system of Internet domain names and IP addresses is managed by a Los Angeles-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. Russia is concerned about the possibility of being cut off as the U.S. and European Union threaten to expand sanctions against the country for alleged interference in Ukraine.

Some Russian banks have been blocked by Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. as part of U.S. sanctions, causing payment disruptions. The European Union is weighing excluding Russian lenders from the SWIFT banking-transaction system in the next round of sanctions.

Russia may urge its telecommunication operators to adjust their equipment to enable access to the Russian Internet autonomously when access to foreign servers is denied, Vedomosti daily reported today.

Russia doesn't plan to isolate its Internet from the world, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said.

"We need to defend ourselves from the U.S. and Europe," Peskov said by phone today. "This is not about isolating ourselves, it's about getting ready for possible cut-offs as countries that regulate the Web may act unpredictably."

Press offices of Yandex NV, Mail.ru Group Ltd, OAO Mobile TeleSystems, OAO MegaFon and VimpelCom Ltd declined to comment.