WHOIS (pronounced as the phrase
who is) is a query and response
protocol that is widely used for querying
databases that store the registered users or assignees of an
Internet resource, such as a
domain name, an
IP address block, or an
autonomous system, but is also used for a wider range of other information. The protocol stores and delivers database content in a human-readable format. The WHOIS protocol is documented in RFC 3912.