Nominet is asking for feedback on proposals from the police which would allow them to "switch off" websites used by criminals.

The UK domain registrar is setting up an issues group to look at the change which would bolster police powers quite dramatically – assuming the pesky crims stick to .uk websites of course.

The proposals would allow police to ask Nominet to remove sites from the .uk registry if police say they have reasonable grounds to believe they're being used for criminal activity.

You can apply to join the Nominet discussion group here. The closing date for applications is 23 February.

A spokesman for Nominet said the issues brief went out in October and since then there had been a variety of positive feedback.

Nominet hopes to tell successful candidates by 2 March and hold the first meeting later that month. It will send round a summary of the police proposal before the meeting.

Nominet is also considering a proposal from member Andrew Bennett on whether the registrar should be able take control of expired domain names and show ads on them. More on expired domain tasting here. Comments need to be in by 2 March. ®