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Be warned that there are almost 100 different whois servers, and your results might vary based on which server you use. I looked up Ed Krol (author of the Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog, a fine book about the Internet) with the InterNIC system by using Telnet rs.internic.net, and here's how it looked. (Notice that you can perform a variety of different databases searches, not just whois. and queries from this site.)
$ telnet rs.internic.net Trying... Connected to rs.internic.net. Escape character is '^]'. SunOS UNIX (rs) (ttyp3) *************************************************************************** * -- InterNIC Registration Services Center -- * * For gopher, type: GOPHER <return> * For wais, type: WAIS <search string> <return> * For the *original* whois type: WHOIS [search string] <return> * For registration status: STATUS <ticket number> <return> * * For user assistance call (800) 444-4345 | (619) 455-4600 or (703) 742-4777 * Please report system problems to ACTION@internic.net **************************************************************************** Please be advised that the InterNIC Registration host contains INTERNET Domains, IP Network Numbers, ASNs, and Points of Contacts ONLY. Please refer to rfc1400.txt for details (available via anonymous ftp at either nic.ddn.mil [/rfc/rfc1400.txt] or ftp.rs.internic.net [/policy/rfc1400.txt]). Cmdinter Ver 1.3 Mon Apr 11 01:00:12 1994 EST [vt100] InterNIC > whois krol,ed Connecting to the rs Database . . . . . . Connected to the rs Database Krol, Ed (EK10) Krol@UXC.CSO.UIUC.EDU University of Illinois Computing and Communications Service Office 195 DCL 1304 West Springfield Avenue Urbana, IL 61801-4399 (217) 333-7886 Record last updated on 27-Nov-91.