In October 2013 the Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) of City of London Police sent a letter to several domain registrars that requested they shut down sites suspected of criminal activity. When one registrar refused to comply, as the request was not a court order, the owner of three sites attempted to transfer their accounts only to be blocked by their registrar. The legal challenge led to a decision by the Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy panel which judged that « To permit a registrar of record to withhold the transfer of a domain based on the suspicion of a law enforcement agency, without the intervention of a judicial body, opens the possibility for abuse by agencies far less reputable than the City of London Police.”
Registrars Can’t Hold ‘Pirate’ Domains Hostage Without Court Order