- What should I do if the information for my own domain name on the WHOIS is incorrect?
- Why does the WHOIS not show email addresses?
- Why has the opt-out facility been locked?
- How do I appeal against a decision to remove the opt-out facility?
What is the WHOIS?
Our WHOIS service is used to find information about domain names ending in .uk. It is maintained by us and contains information about domain names that are currently registered including: registrant's details, registration date and current status, registrars and the name servers associated with the domain name.
How much does it cost?
The WHOIS service is free of charge.
Who is eligible?
Anyone can use our WHOIS service to retrieve information on a .uk domain name.
What can I use the WHOIS for?
You can use our WHOIS to see if a domain name ending in .uk is available for registration. You can also use the WHOIS to display registrant information for a domain name.
What information does the WHOIS show?
The WHOIS shows registrant information for the domain name queried. Please see the responses section on the Instructions for use page for more details.
Why does Nominet publish these details?
We operate a public registry on behalf of all Internet users and it is therefore important that we make the records we hold available to everyone. The WHOIS makes it easier to identify the legal registrant of a domain name and should therefore help build more confidence in the use of the Internet.
Is Nominet allowed to publish my address details?
Yes, we have a contract with every domain name holder. The Terms and Conditions of domain name registration allow us to publish the records of your registration.
Can I choose not to have my address details published?
We appreciate that some individuals are concerned about having their personal address published on the WHOIS and therefore we allow non-trading individuals (consumers) the opportunity to opt out of having their address details displayed.
How can I opt out?
If you are a non-trading individual, you will be able to opt out of the WHOIS. There are 2 ways to do this:
- If you are a non-trading individual, you will be able to opt out of the WHOIS by speaking to your registrar (registration agent) who in turn will modify the domain name record held by us on your behalf so that your address details are not displayed.
- Alternatively, if you are the registrant and a non-trading individual, you can log into your Nominet online account and select the opt-out button on the Account Summary page.
Can anyone opt out?
Only domain name holders that are non-trading individuals can opt out of having their address details published on the WHOIS. In other words, if you do not use or plan to use your domain name for business, trade (this includes the registration of domain names for monetization purposes, e.g. pay per click advertising etc) or professional transactions, you will be entitled to opt out of having your address displayed.
If you are a non-trading individual and your web site is being used as a holding page by your registrar, you will qualify to opt out of having your address shown on the WHOIS.
What should I do if the information for my own domain name on the WHOIS is incorrect?
In the first instance, you should speak to your registrar. For example, if the registrant address is incorrect your registrar will be able to amend these records on Nominet's database.
Why does the WHOIS not show email addresses?
We do not show email addresses to prevent them being used to send spam to. If you want to contact the domain name owner then you should visit their web site or try the standard address of postmaster@domain
Why has the opt-out facility been locked?
If the registrant does not meet the opt-out criteria, the domain name will be opted in and a lock will be activated. This will prevent the domain name from being opted back out of the WHOIS.
The function to activate the opt-out through your Nominet online account will be disabled.
If you meet the criteria for opting out at any time in the future, you should contact your registrar. If they are unable to help contact our Registrant Services department by telephone on 01865 332244 or email nominet@nominet.org.uk
How do I appeal against a decision to remove the opt-out facility?
There are 3 ways in which you can appeal against our decision:
- Reply directly to the email correspondence that we previously sent you confirming our decision to remove the opt-out. You have 30 working days from the decision to start your appeal using this option.
- If you are the registrant, log into your Nominet online account. Select the Public Register Opt-Out ‘change’ button and complete the appeal form.
- If you wish to appeal at any other time please contact our Registrant Services department by telephone on 01865 332244 or email nominet@nominet.org.uk.
How do I report an incorrect opt-out?
Please contact our Registrant Services department by telephone on 01865 332244 or email nominet@nominet.org.uk and we will investigate this further. Once we have completed our investigations we will contact you to confirm the outcome.
What are the query limits for the WHOIS?
These are given in the acceptable use policy.
What happens if I exceed the limits?
If either of the limits are exceeded then further queries are rejected with the blocked message. The length of the block depends on how many queries have been made so far. For example, if you send 1 query per second for 10,000 seconds then you will be blocked after that for 21 hours, 13 minutes and 20 seconds.
How do I know if I have been blocked?
You will receive the following message when you exceed the query limit:
Error for "<domain name>".
The WHOIS query quota for <xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx> has been exceeded
and will be replenished in <nnn> seconds.
WHOIS lookup made at <hh:mm:ss dd-mmm-yyyy>
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