> In theory, the `whois example.com` command should fail with NXDOMAIN (Non-eXisting Domain) error Huh? No, it shouldn't. Example domains are, according to the

> In theory, the `whois example.com` command should fail with NXDOMAIN (Non-eXisting Domain) error Huh? No, it shouldn't. Example domains are, according to the RFC, permanently registered to IANA, although not through the "normal channels" (I suppose they don't have to pay for them). example.com and other example domains resolve correctly wherever you are. They are not treated specially in any way (or shouldn't be, according to the RFC) aside from that they're permanently registered to IANA and that application developers should understand that they're example domains. The RFC does not prevent IANA from running any services on example domains, and they choose to run an HTTP server.