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Network Working Group                                          L. DaigleRequest for Comments: 3912                                VeriSign, Inc.Obsoletes:954,812                                       September 2004Category: Standards TrackWHOIS Protocol SpecificationStatus of this Memo   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.Copyright Notice   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).Abstract   This document updates the specification of the WHOIS protocol,   thereby obsoletingRFC 954.  The update is intended to remove the   material fromRFC 954 that does not have to do with the on-the-wire   protocol, and is no longer applicable in today's Internet.  This   document does not attempt to change or update the protocol per se, or   document other uses of the protocol that have come into existence   since the publication ofRFC 954.1.  Introduction   WHOIS is a TCP-based transaction-oriented query/response protocol   that is widely used to provide information services to Internet   users.  While originally used to provide "white pages" services and   information about registered domain names, current deployments cover   a much broader range of information services.  The protocol delivers   its content in a human-readable format.  This document updates the   specification of the WHOIS protocol, thereby obsoletingRFC 954 [1].   For historic reasons, WHOIS lacks many of the protocol design   attributes, for example internationalisation and strong security,   that would be expected from any recently-designed IETF protocol.   This document does not attempt to rectify any of those shortcomings.   Instead, this memo documents the WHOIS protocol as it is.  In some   areas, this document does document particular well known shortcomings   of the WHOIS protocol.  The discussion of possible protocols to carry   out these functions, with updated capabilities to address theDaigle                      Standards Track                     [Page 1]

RFC 3912              WHOIS Protocol Specification        September 2004   shortcomings, is being addressed in a separate IETF activity (CRISP   Working Group).2.  Protocol Specification   A WHOIS server listens on TCP port 43 for requests from WHOIS   clients.  The WHOIS client makes a text request to the WHOIS server,   then the WHOIS server replies with text content.  All requests are   terminated with ASCII CR and then ASCII LF.  The response might   contain more than one line of text, so the presence of ASCII CR or   ASCII LF characters does not indicate the end of the response.  The   WHOIS server closes its connection as soon as the output is finished.   The closed TCP connection is the indication to the client that the   response has been received.3.  Protocol Example   If one places a request of the WHOIS server located at whois.nic.mil   for information about "Smith", the packets on the wire will look   like:   client                           server at whois.nic.mil   open TCP   ---- (SYN) ------------------------------>              <---- (SYN+ACK) -------------------------   send query ---- "Smith<CR><LF>" -------------------->   get answer <---- "Info about Smith<CR><LF>" ---------              <---- "More info about Smith<CR><LF>" ----   close      <---- (FIN) ------------------------------              ----- (FIN) ----------------------------->4.  Internationalisation   The WHOIS protocol has not been internationalised.  The WHOIS   protocol has no mechanism for indicating the character set in use.   Originally, the predominant text encoding in use was US-ASCII.  In   practice, some WHOIS servers, particularly those outside the USA,   might be using some other character set either for requests, replies,   or both.  This inability to predict or express text encoding has   adversely impacted the interoperability (and, therefore, usefulness)   of the WHOIS protocol.5.  Security Considerations   The WHOIS protocol has no provisions for strong security.  WHOIS   lacks mechanisms for access control, integrity, and confidentiality.   Accordingly, WHOIS-based services should only be used for information   which is non-sensitive and intended to be accessible to everyone.Daigle                      Standards Track                     [Page 2]

RFC 3912              WHOIS Protocol Specification        September 2004   The absence of such security mechanisms means this protocol would not   normally be acceptable to the IETF at the time of this writing.6.  Acknowledgements   Ran Atkinson created an earlier version of this document.  Ken   Harrenstien, Mary Stahl, and Elizabeth Feinler were the authors of   the original Draft Standard for WHOIS.7.  References7.1.  Normative References   [1]  Harrenstien, K., Stahl, M., and E. Feinler, "NICNAME/WHOIS",RFC954, October 1985.Author's Address   Leslie Daigle   VeriSign, Inc.   21355 Ridgetop Circle   Dulles, VA  20166   US   EMail: leslie@verisignlabs.com; leslie@thinkingcat.comDaigle                      Standards Track                     [Page 3]

RFC 3912              WHOIS Protocol Specification        September 2004Full Copyright Statement   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).   This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions   contained inBCP 78, and at www.rfc-editor.org, and except as set   forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.   This document and the information contained herein are provided on an   "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/S HE   REPRESENTS OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE   INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR   IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF   THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.Intellectual Property   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights   might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has   made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information   on the ISOC's procedures with respect to rights in ISOC Documents can   be found inBCP 78 andBCP 79.   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of   such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository athttp://www.ietf.org/ipr.   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-   ipr@ietf.org.Acknowledgement   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the   Internet Society.Daigle                      Standards Track                     [Page 4]