Domain Name Whois - Info on 'who is' behind a web site

Do you have a favorite website and wonder how long it has been around and who is the lucky person who owns it? A Domain Name Whois check will give you all of this information and more.

Think of the Whois system like your telephones white pages. If you want to find a persons phone number you would look in the phone book under their last name and then search until you found their first name. The Whois is very similar, except there are no last names to search, all you need is the web address you are curious about and Whois will give you the rest of the information as long as they didn't register the domain privately.

If the web owner did not register the domain privately, you will have access to the owner's full name, home address, state, phone number, and much more. Providing they gave the correct information to the registrar upon purchase. If the domain name was purchased privately, the only information you will see is the information of the registrar who sold the domain name.

One of the biggest concerns to date with domain name Whois searches is the lack of privacy. With identity theft and scams on the rise it is understandable why web owners wouldn't want all of their private information so readily and easily available to anyone.

One thing to make a note of though, is that if you are going to register your domain privately, make sure you do it with a reputable site. One of ICANN's terms is that all registrations done privately have to be put in the name of the registrar. So even though you have paid for it, technically it is not yours. A trusted registrar like 'Traveler Domains' is a must if you want to keep your information private.