[At-Large] Local police takes over domains from foreign countries

[Lutz Donnerhacke]

Hi,

I just noticed a somewhat strange action of our local police department. The
seemed to issue an order against a local registrar to change the domain owner
located in a different country. Please note, that there is no court order.

IMHO the police officer prefered to take over the domain instead of taking
the domain down or (best case) requesting international administrative
assistance. I might be wrong.

My question is: Does the ICANN allow registrars to change the holder instead
of setting the domain on "hold" in such a situation?

Situation from 2008-11-30 (http://www.whois.de/currentWhois/view/bet3000.com)
  Domain Name:bet3000.com
  Created On:2003-06-02 15:18:55
  Last Updated On:2008-06-03 03:32:10
  Expiration Date:2009-06-02 15:18:55
  Status:ok

  Registrant-ID:IBAL1-EPNIC
  Registrant-Name:International Betting Association Limited
  Registrant-Street:4 College Lane
  Registrant-City:Gibraltar
  Registrant-Postal-Code:4 College
  Registrant-Country:GI
  Registrant-Phone:+350.20052577
  Registrant-FAX:+350.20052782
  Registrant-Email:info at iba.gi


Situation today (current whois)
  Domain Name:bet3000.com
  Created On:2003-06-02 15:18:55
  Last Updated On:2008-12-02 10:32:26
  Expiration Date:2010-12-01 04:59:59
  Status:registrarHold

  Registrant-ID:BD512-EPNIC
  Registrant-Name:Juergen Buessow
  Registrant-Organisation:Bezirksregierung Duesseldorf
  Registrant-Street:Cecilienallee 2
  Registrant-City:Duesseldorf
  Registrant-Postal-Code:40474
  Registrant-Country:DE
  Registrant-Phone:+49.2114750
  Registrant-Email:poststelle at brd.nrw.de