WHOIS is a protocol which makes it simple to see the information a specific domain has been registered with either through a command line or through the use of special web-based lookup sites. This information includes the names, address and e-mail address of the owner, administrator, tech and billing persons in addition to the registrar organization the Internet domain has been purchased through, the creation and expiration dates. Apart from some country-code TLDs that have certain limitations, the WHOIS info of any domain can be changed freely anytime, which is quite vital given that based on the policies of the top-level Internet Corporation, ICANN, all details must be current and valid always. Inability to conform with these policies could lead to losing the ownership of a domain address and in some cases a domain name may even be removed from the Domain Name System and released for free registration.