WHOIS is a protocol that makes it possible to view the details a particular domain has been registered with either through a command line or by using special web-based lookup sites. This info includes the names, address and email address of the owner, admin, tech and billing persons along with the registrar business the domain name has been purchased through, the creation and expiration dates. With the exception of several country-code TLDs that have certain limitations, the WHOIS details of any domain name can be changed freely at any time, which is quite important considering that in accordance with the policies of the top-level Internet Corporation, ICANN, all details have to be current and correct all of the time. Inability to conform with these policies may lead to losing the ownership of an Internet domain and in some cases a domain name may even be deleted from the Domain Name System and released for free registration.