ICANN taking away a domain name is not entirely possible, Not unless your domain is associate with scams or spreading viruses and malware they can suspend your domain anytime.
Maybe what happen here is their domain registrar from New Zealand sold their domain to other customers that why i always stick to the known registrar when it comes to domain.
One way or the other, that happened for the better. Now the project is more independent than it once was, which is definitely a good thing.