I think that's the problem with the back and forth, some of the stuff MJ is saying is not wrong, but its not what people here are interested in, the purpose for discussion here about domain names is how to make money as domain investor/ developer, what will be good for the registry is an important conversation, but not in 100 threads.
Someone who has a kiosk in their local shopping mall cares about the traffic and can they make money each month, someone telling them don't worry the company that owns the mall, they are doing great, cashflow is through the roof does not help pay their bills. If the mall operator were in trouble that would be a concern, because the kiosk owner may have to find a new place if the mall closed, but shy of that on a day to day basis their focus is can they sell their product at their kiosk. its a micro concern, not a macro.
So it just seems you are really a tld hobbyist, you don't make a living or even a decent part time income buying and selling domains, you just like to discuss the naming system changing with people who are making or trying to make an income with domain names. There is nothing wrong with conversation but I would say we just have new threads develop every few days saying the same thing.
So the net is changing by offering more choice, ok, everything is changing, most people are concerned in their business or career how to earn a living based on those changes, how to increase profit and reduce risk, not just have a philosophical conversation.
Scandiman to answer your question, ICANN has put in place the EBERO program
An important innovation of the New gTLD Program, the establishment of emergency back-end registry operators, or EBEROs, mitigates risks to the stability and security of the Domain Name System in the event a new TLD operator fails.
Emergency back-end registry operators are temporarily activated if a TLD registry operator is at risk of failing to sustain the five critical registry functions. These functions are:
DNS resolution for registered domain names
Operation of Shared Registration System
Operation of Whois service
Registry data escrow deposits
Maintenance of a properly signed zone in accordance with DNSSEC requirements
EBEROs are limited in the services they can provide. For example, EBEROs will not provide any additional services that a TLD operator may have offered its customers, such as web hosting or network analytics.
The currently contracted organizations met stringent technical requirements and demonstrated years of experience in operating domain name services, registration data directory services and extensible provisioning protocol services.
http://www.icann.org/en/resources/registries/ebero
I have also been told there are plenty of Vulture funds sitting on the sidelines, people who did not apply for an extension but let's say not that I am wishing them failure, but Dot Luxury coming out $799 to register and renewals $799, All registries had to put up 3 years working capital so after that they cannot make money, and want out, Another registry like Donuts could come in and pick it up and if more than one wants it, there would possibly be an auction to the highest bidder.