WHOIS is a protocol that makes it possible to see the info a given domain has been registered with through a command line or through the use of special web-based lookup websites. This info includes the names, address and e-mail address of the owner, admin, tech and billing persons as well as the registrar business the domain has been purchased through, the creation and expiration dates. Aside from a few country-code TLDs that have certain limitations, the WHOIS information of any domain can be changed freely anytime, which is quite important provided that according to the policies of the top-level Internet Corporation, ICANN, all details have to be current and legitimate at all times. Inability to comply with these policies could lead to losing the ownership of a domain address and in many cases a domain address could even be removed from the Domain Name System and released for free registration.