Domain search without squating?

[Josef Lowder]

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Interesting subject. 

I too quickly deleted some of the posts in the earlier part of this discussion. 

How is "whois" done from the command line? 

Often wondered how anyone could afford to just buy up domain names "on spec"
and just keep paying annual registration renewal fees endlessly hoping to
resell for a high price later. 

I've always checked "who is" for name availability through either Dotster,
Network Solutions, or GoDaddy and never seemed to have a problem.  Sometimes
I've rechecked a given name several times over a period of months while I
thought about whether I really wanted it or not, and eventually did register
it with no problem.