WHOIS is a protocol which makes it possible to view the details a specific domain has been registered with through a command line or using special web-based lookup sites. This info includes the names, address and e-mail address of the owner, administrator, technical and billing persons in addition to the registrar organization the domain name has been purchased through, the creation and expiration dates. Aside from a number of country-code TLDs that have certain limitations, the WHOIS details of any domain name can be modified freely anytime, which is quite important provided that based on the policies of the top-level Internet Corporation, ICANN, all details must be current and correct always. Failing to conform with these policies could lead to losing the ownership of an Internet domain and in some cases a domain name may even be erased from the Domain Name System and released for free registration.