Domain names — those .com, .net, .org, and other addresses on which Web sites live — carry registration information that is made publicly available by their registrars. By using a tool called a WHOIS client, you can look up the ownership information attached to any domain name.
There is no official WHOIS client, but rather many, many different WHOIS clients are spread out across the computing world. Some computers have the ability to look up this information, while others use web-based “WHOIS clients”. Try searching Google for WHOIS client and you’ll see what I mean.
Many domain name registrars provide their own WHOIS client in order to enable customers to determine if a potential domain is taken. GoDaddy.com’s WHOIS client is one such example. Type any domain name into GoDaddy’s form, and the site will respond with various registration and contact information.
While all domains are required to provide valid contact information, some site owners keep their personal information private by utilizing their registrar’s private registration services. When you see language like “proxy” or “private registrant” in WHOIS lookup results, the site owner has chosen to use one of these privacy options.
