How can I run a WHOIS lookup

[l008com]

...from the command line. It used to be as simple as:
whois apple.com
And I would get all the info from their domain name. But now when I do that lookup, I get this:
[MacPro:~] johnm% whois apple.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

APPLE.COM.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
APPLE.COM.MORE.INFO.AT.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
APPLE.COM.IS.OWN3D.BY.NAKEDJER.COM
APPLE.COM.IS.0WN3D.BY.GULLI.COM
APPLE.COM.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
APPLE.COM.AT.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
APPLE.COM

To single out one record, look it up with "xxx", where xxx is one of the
of the records displayed above. If the records are the same, look them up
with "=xxx" to receive a full display for each record.

>>> Last update of whois database: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:32:03 EDT <<<

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the [etc]


Some have suggested putting an equal sign before the domain, but that doens't get me much more info at all:
[MacPro:~] johnm% whois =apple.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

Server Name: APPLE.COM.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
IP Address: 203.36.226.2
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: APPLE.COM.MORE.INFO.AT.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
IP Address: 203.36.226.2
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: APPLE.COM.IS.OWN3D.BY.NAKEDJER.COM
IP Address: 209.236.225.10
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: APPLE.COM.IS.0WN3D.BY.GULLI.COM
IP Address: 80.190.192.39
Registrar: EPAG DOMAINSERVICES GMBH
Whois Server: whois.enterprice.net
Referral URL: http://www.enterprice.net

Server Name: APPLE.COM.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
IP Address: 203.36.226.2
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: APPLE.COM.AT.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
IP Address: 203.36.226.2
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Domain Name: APPLE.COM
Registrar: MARKMONITOR INC.
Whois Server: whois.markmonitor.com
Referral URL: http://www.markmonitor.com
Name Server: NSERVER.APPLE.COM
Name Server: NSERVER.ASIA.APPLE.COM
Name Server: NSERVER.EURO.APPLE.COM
Name Server: NSERVER2.APPLE.COM
Name Server: NSERVER3.APPLE.COM
Name Server: NSERVER4.APPLE.COM
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 21-jan-2009
Creation Date: 19-feb-1987
Expiration Date: 20-feb-2011

>>> Last update of whois database: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:32:33 EDT <<<


It seems to be returning every domain that matches what i'm searching for. How can I tell it to just look up EXACTLY what i'm searching for, instead of searching for what i'm searching for?

[YeOldeStonecat]

http://member.dnsstuff.com/pages/tools.php?ptype=free

[l008com]

Please read the very first line of my original post. I need to do it from the command line, i'm not trying to find a web site to do it through.

[YeOldeStonecat]

Please read the very first line of my original post. I need to do it from the command line, i'm not trying to find a web site to do it through.

I did read it, interpreted as that's how you had to do it from the command line in the past, I didn't know you didn't want to graduate to something a bit newer and more informative.

[l008com]

I'm trying to fix the whois lookup on my own website. These days when you search for big domains like apple.com or microsoft.com all you get is junk.

[Grentz]

www.whois.sc is one of my favorite online ones.

There is no reason to run whois locally, most of the command line tools just go to a website to fetch the info anyways and it is not displayed as nicely as if you just use one of the good online sites. If you want to see the DNS info, use something like nslookup at the command line to see what DNS entries the site is resolving too.