WHOIS is a protocol that makes it possible to see the details a specific domain has been registered with 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 along with the registrar company the domain name has been acquired through, the creation and expiration dates. Aside from a few country-code TLDs that have specific limitations, the WHOIS information of any domain can be edited freely anytime, which is quite necessary considering that in accordance with the policies of the top-level Internet Corporation, ICANN, all details have to be current and legitimate at all times. Inability to conform with these policies could lead to losing the ownership of a domain name and in many cases a domain could even be deleted from the Domain Name System and released for free registration.