My original reaction to the proposed .XXX Top level domain was that it was something of a harm reduction initiative not worth over-selling – it will not reduce the amount of adult material on the Web, but might make it a little more difficult (but not impossible) to access such material in certain sequestered networks (schools, libraries . . .).  It also may create an island of self-policing in that industry.

What .XXX does not seem likely to do is increase the amount of adult material on the Internet (if that’s even possible).  Nevertheless, protests to the U.S. Government based on that assumption appears to have set in motion a chain of events that has led to the suspension of the process of ‘delegation’ of the TLD.

Again, the hot button of ‘who is in charge here’ has been pressed.  The history of the relationship between ICANN and the U.S. Government is ‘complex’ to put it mildly, as is the role of the GAC, or Government Advisory Committee of ICANN.  I recommend resources such as ICANN Watch for those interested in analyzing this matter in the context of Internet Governance.