> Whose boneheaded idea was the .xxx domain int he first place?
As usual, follow the money.
The domain registrars and their friends at ICANN realized that by creating a TLD called ".XXX" they would be printing money as millions of "clean" companies and individuals rushed to claim and neuter "{clean_name}.xxx", and millions of "{dirty_name}.com" porn sites rushed to claim and link to "{dirty_name}.xxx". It is legal blackmail, pure and simple.
Reasonable people saw this many years ago as the scam it is.
But ICANN shrewdly co-opted the anti-porn crusaders, telling them (lies) about how this would "protect the children". So they got support from all over as naive people and organizations rushed to support the idea of ".xxx".
That's not the end of it, either. The ".xxx" scam is so successful they've already launched the even bigger followup.
Recently ICANN announced that they would also open *ANY* TLD with any company or individual name or initials. What is (say) Microsoft, going to do, ignore the abuse potential of "{anything}.microsoft"? Of course, they have to buy the TLD that bears their name before someone else does. And the TLD's don't go for the $20-50 per year of simple domains -- they go for upwards of $100,000 each!! What a racket. Legal blackmail.
Follow the money.
at some point trademark violations become actionable.