Product Overview: Registrar WHOIS
Introduction
Registrar WHOIS is a tool designed to provide comprehensive and accurate information about domain name registrations. This service leverages the WHOIS protocol, a widely used Internet record listing system, to identify and display details associated with domain owners and their registrations.
What it Does
Registrar WHOIS allows users to query and retrieve detailed information from the WHOIS database, which is mandated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This database contains essential data about domain name registrations, making it an invaluable resource for various purposes, including domain research, verification of domain ownership, and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Key Features and Functionality
Domain Information
- The tool provides the domain name, its registration status, name servers, and details about the registrar who managed the domain registration.
Registrant Contact Information
- It lists the domain owner’s name, mailing address, phone number, and email address, ensuring transparency and facilitating communication with the domain owner.
Registration Timeline
- Users can access the domain’s creation date, last update date, and expiration date, which is crucial for tracking the lifecycle of a domain.
Administrative and Technical Contacts
- The tool includes contact details for the administrative and technical contacts associated with the domain, which are often responsible for managing the domain’s technical and administrative aspects.
Compliance and Formatting
- The WHOIS output adheres to strict formatting guidelines, ensuring that each field (key/value pair) is properly terminated and separated, and that the output is easily parseable. This includes specific requirements for line breaks, leading and trailing spaces, and case sensitivity.
Query Capabilities
- Registrar WHOIS supports exact match lookup queries for domain name objects and may offer partial match capabilities for registrar object queries, depending on the registry’s implementation.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance
- The service ensures compliance with ICANN’s regulations, including the requirement for public availability of registrant information and the handling of changes to registrant details, such as triggering 60-day transfer locks and notification emails.
Usage
Users can access Registrar WHOIS through various interfaces, including command-line utilities on UNIX systems or web-based lookup tools provided by domain registrars. By entering the domain name into the search bar, users can instantly obtain the relevant information from the WHOIS database.
In summary, Registrar WHOIS is an essential tool for anyone needing to verify domain ownership, track domain registration details, or ensure compliance with ICANN regulations. Its robust features and adherence to strict formatting and compliance standards make it a reliable and valuable resource in the domain management ecosystem.