What is the "WhoIs"?
The WhoIs is a giant database that keeps track of the ownership and contact information for every domain name registered.
ICANN, (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the non-profit governing body responsible for overseeing, managing and coordinating how certain parts of the Internet work (namely DNS, IP allocation, and delegation of top-level domain names).
According to their FAQ page, "Information about who is responsible of domain names is publicly available to allow rapid resolution of technical problems and to permit enforcement or consumer protection, trademark, and other laws." This may sound good in theory, but in practice, some problems have arisen.
