Ever have a web site with some great information on it, that you would like to use, track or confirm, but the site’s author is anonymous or uses a pseudonym? Perhaps the contact form doesn’t work, or you have tried it and gotten no response, or there is no contact system provided at all. One way you can start the process of researching the author is by doing a WHOIS search on the domain name.
When you register a domain, such as yourname.com or bigcompany.org, you have to pay a registrar and provide certain basic contact information. This information exists in publicly accessible domain name registry databases, and if you enter the name, you should get at least one set (and possibly a series) of names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. You should also get the information about domain name registration company itself; which company it is (such as GoDaddy.com or DreamHost), and all of their contact information. Obviously, the contact information and location of the registrar will be completely different than that of the actual web site owner. The contacts may be different for owners, technical assistance, billing, etc. This is a starting point that you can use to continue an investigation.
For one thing, you can use this to fact-check. The author who identifies him- or herself on the site may be claiming they live in a certain state, for example, but the domain is registered to an address in another state. This is a discrepancy that can, and should, be investigated. Keep in mind that the domain name owner and the author of the web site content may not be the same person, but it’s a rare situation when someone lets another person use their web property without knowing who that other person is. So at the very least, the address, phone number, and email provided should lead you to a connection to the author…perhaps the domain was purchased and registered by a friend, colleague or family member. It can also give you a name when a site is anonymous, or one of the key players when it’s a group site.
Be aware that some registrars offer “masking” as part of their services, which means that the names and contact info will be the registrar’s info instead. So instead of the following entry:
Name: Ruthie Kelly
Address: 123 Main Street, San Diego, CA 92071
Phone: (619)630-7285
Email address: ruthie@ruthiekelly.com
You may find an entry like this:
Name: ruthiekelly.com NameHost registrant
Address: c/o NameHost, 456 Wall Street, Beverly Hills, CA 92010
Phone: (424) 123-4568
Email address: ruthiekelly.com@namehost.com
The reasons that registrars are allowed to do this is because they must have the registrant’s information on file and forward all inquiries to the registrant. Any mail sent to “ruthiekelly.com, c/o Namehost, 456 Wall Street, Beverly Hills, CA 92010″ will be forwarded to my “real” address, listed above, and any email sent to ruthiekelly.com@namehost.com will forward to my real email address. So anything sent through these channels is supposed to get through…eventually. Since registrars have to have semi-adequate information on file, for billing purposes at the very least, you can be assured that they have this information. You can always use as many channels as possible to get whatever message you are trying to get through.
Obviously, I would recommend not “spamming” someone with requests. This is a tool, a piece of your puzzle, and should not be viewed as the only means to your end. Do not plan to depend on it, because at the end of the day, you can send as many letters and messages as you want…but they can ignore them all.
There are quite a few different WHOIS services that allow you to look up this information for free. I usually use Network Solutions’ WHOIS, the screenshot of which is shown above. There are a variety of WHOIS services, and you can find more through Google, Yahoo, or your favorite search engine.
