There are a variety of services that tell you who has registered a particular Web site, using a “Whois” database search. The one I use most often is the Network Solutions Enhanced Whois Directory.
On that page, you can enter a domain name, say, BBC.co.uk, and you will get a results page that gives you the name of the registrant (in this case, the British Broadcasting Corporation), an address and more (in some cases, phone numbers are available, too).
Some corporations and people go out of their way to mask their Whois records – using agents to register the domain name. It’s also possible to use a proxy service to hide your information; see this offer by GoDaddy.com to make a private registration for $7.95 a year (plus domain registration fee). And some of the listings haven’t been updated in years, so they may be incorrect.
As with most things online, use these results as a starting point for your research. Use e-mail and – gasp! – the telephone to follow up on these leads.
Of course, there are other ways to track people, and one of the best resources remains one I wrote about in July 2003, Duff Wilson’s Who is John Doe – and where to get the paper on him. One change since then: Wilson, an award-winning investigative reporter for the Seattle Times has traded coasts and one Times for another – he’s now at The New York Times.
And finally, a reminder to also check out my thoughts on registering domain names: http://www.sree.net/tips/websites.html
YOUR TURN: How do you track down people? E-mail me at poynter@sree.net.
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