WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was expected to vote on the final approval of the proposed .xxx sponsored top-level domain this week, but reports out of New Zealand today indicate that the organization will once again delay the decision.Stuart Lawley, chairman of ICM Registry, the Canadian firm seeking to establish and maintain the new TLD, said he was disappointed by ICANN’s decision to delay the approval once again and bemoaned what many critics see as excessive US government interference in ICANN proceedings.

“The last-minute intervention – again – of the US Department of Commerce is a worrisome trend for ICANN,” Lawley said. “I think the international community is looking to ICANN to show its independence of the US.”

Lawley said that the repeated influence of the US Dept. of Commerce has undermined ICANN’s reputation internationally as a truly independent body, as well as the credibility of those in the US government that have claimed they are staying out of ICANN’s affairs.

“The US last year tried to convince the rest of the world they didn’t interfere with ICANN and Internet policies and this kind of interference calls that into question,” Lawley insisted.

According to NZ InfoTech, a senior official at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in Washington, DC told the NTIA it was concerned about differences between ICM’s original application for the .xxx domain and a draft contract that is currently being considered by ICANN.

The NTIA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agency was concerned that “the anticipated public benefit interests of the .xxx application aren’t reflected in the draft contract,” and added that there was a lack of information about the IFFOR sponsorship proposal and the criteria which recipients would need to meet to get funding from the foundation.

These concerns have been voiced to ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee, the official said, and now “We have to wait and see how things develop.”

Should the rumors prove true and no vote on .xxx takes place at this week’s meeting in Wellington, the most likely opportunity for the vote would be at the next full meeting of ICANN, set to take place June 26th through 30th in Marrakech, Morocco.