WAP Domains

This page grew out of the WHOIS section of Domains 101, which kept getting link-rot in the comments field (metaphorically). Same information, more of it, updated for 2026. First written 2014, rewritten more times than we'd like to admit. Status of this page: maintained, occasionally reluctantly.

What a WHOIS record used to show, and shows now

A WHOIS record is the registry's answer to "who is behind this domain?" Since 2018 the honest answer is "fewer people than before." Here's the before/after:

Lookup tips that still work

• Use RDAP where you can. The old port-43 WHOIS protocol is still alive, but RDAP (the JSON successor) gives structured data and https. Most web lookups now hit RDAP behind the scenes. If a tool looks like it was designed in 2004, it probably queries like it too.
• Check the creation date against the registrar. A domain "created 1997" sitting at a drop-catching registrar probably expired and got re-caught in '97 — same name, different owner. WHOIS history tools (see the tools page) show the gaps.
• Read the status codes before you panic. pendingDelete means what it says. redemptionPeriod means the owner can still save it — we get an email about this roughly monthly, see the drops page for the full timeline.
• Cross-check expiry with the registrar's own lookup. Reseller data occasionally lags the registry by a day or two. If the two disagree, the registry wins.
• Don't trust a single screenshot. Records change hands, get updated, get re-caught. Date-stamp everything you save.

What WHOIS is genuinely bad at in 2026

Finding out who owns a domain you want to buy. This used to be the whole point of the protocol, and it's the one thing privacy law mostly broke. What still works: the domain's own contact form, a buy-service link, the registrar's brokerage, or old-fashioned patience. We've bought domains by writing to a company's generic info@ address found on their website, not their WHOIS. It works more often than you'd expect.

The November 2026 sunset review

ICANN's next WHOIS sunset review kicks off in November. Our honest prediction: another round of policy ping-pong, a working group, two acronym-heavy reports, and a system that looks roughly the same in 2028 with slightly better defined edges. We'll update this page when there's something real to report — not before. (See the news page for the headline.)