A tool that has been around for many years has been the query/response protocol querying databases to find out who the registrant for a particular domain name or IP address is. The registrant of a domain is the one who controls its administration. Network Solutions offers a simple WHOIS interface to help users discover a site’s registrant.
This tool is often used to verify ownership of a website, because some sites may not be forthcoming about their identities. Often, this tool is a first step in searching for more information about a particular site and its owner.
An example of a “WHOIS lookup” follows. The www.k-state.edu web address for K-State was placed in the WHOIS search, and here are the results. This is all public information.
|
This Registry database contains ONLY .EDU domains. The data in the EDUCAUSE Whois database is provided by EDUCAUSE for information purposes in order to assist in the process of obtaining information about or related to .edu domain registration records. The EDUCAUSE Whois database is authoritative for the .EDU domain. A Web interface for the .EDU EDUCAUSE Whois Server is available at: http://whois.educause.net By submitting a Whois query, you agree that this information will not be used to allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of unsolicited commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail. The use of electronic processes to harvest information from this server is generally prohibited except as reasonably necessary to register or modify .edu domain names. You may use “%” as a wildcard in your search. For further information regarding the use of this WHOIS server, please type: help ————————– Domain Name: K-STATE.EDU Registrant: Administrative Contact: Technical Contact: Name Servers: Domain record activated: 02-May-1997 |
