At an annual meeting held in San Francisco, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board of Directors has approved the .xxx sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) with the ICM Registry. The .xxx TLD is meant for pornographic websites, and has been on the table for 11 years. In the final vote, nine ICANN board members voted in favor, while three opposed, and four abstained, according to Ars Technica.
Many board members spoke out about their votes. Some were concerned this decision will upset governments. Others said they voted in favor in part because if .xxx isn't approved now then it will certainly be submitted and approved in the new TLD process, which would make it unrestricted (this vote makes it limited to the adult industry).
The .xxx TLD will be a huge cause for controversy in the next few months. Many countries will likely outright ban it. In others, it will be a huge gold rush given the size of the pornography industry and its adoption of the Web.
For more information, you can read the 20-page PDF document titled 18 March 2011 Draft Rationale for Approving Registry Agreement with ICM's for .XXX sTLD.