WHOIS is a protocol that makes it possible to view the info a particular domain name has been registered with through a command line or by using special web-based lookup websites. This info includes the names, address and e-mail address of the owner, admin, technical and billing persons as well as the registrar business the domain name has been acquired through, the creation and expiration dates. With the exception of a number of country-code TLDs that have specific limitations, the WHOIS info of any Internet domain can be edited freely whenever you want, which is quite vital provided that according to the policies of the top-level Internet Corporation, ICANN, all details have to be current and valid at all times. Failure to conform with these policies may lead to losing the ownership of a domain name and in some cases a domain address may even be removed from the Domain Name System and released for free registration.