WHOIS is a protocol which makes it possible to see the information a specific domain has been registered with either through a command line or using special web-based lookup websites. This information includes the names, address and email address of the owner, administrator, tech and billing persons along with the registrar business the domain has been obtained through, the creation and expiration dates. Except for several country-code TLDs that have specific limitations, the WHOIS details of any Internet domain can be changed freely at any time, which is quite important since based on the policies of the top-level Internet Corporation, ICANN, all details ought to be current and correct at all times. Failing to comply with these policies could lead to losing the ownership of a domain address and in some cases a domain name might even be deleted from the Domain Name System and released for free registration.