WHOIS is a protocol that makes it possible to view the details a given domain name has been registered with either through a command line or using special web-based lookup websites. This info includes the names, address and e-mail address of the owner, administrator, tech and billing persons along with the registrar organization the domain address has been acquired through, the creation and expiration dates. Aside from a number of country-code TLDs that have specific limitations, the WHOIS information of any domain address can be edited freely anytime, which is quite vital since based on the policies of the top-level Internet Corporation, ICANN, all details have to be current and valid all of the time. Failing to conform with these policies may lead to losing the ownership of a domain and in many cases a domain address may even be removed from the Domain Name System and released for free registration.