What are the legalities about providing false info on domain ownership?

This is a kind of unuseful post, but i previously had about 30 or so domains all reg'd to person that didn't exist. I suspect that it's not legal or allowed shall we say, but unless you're going to be committing major crimes, then i can't see you ever being found out. Just do everything by proxy and carry on. I didn't have any problems, but then i didn't defraud anyone or doing anything illegal with said domains.

Under the terms of your Domain Name Registration Agreement, the provision of inaccurate Whois information can be grounds for cancellation of your domain name registration.

i think if you're going to make a website for 1-2 months to blackhat it then you can write what ever you want in whois.. but if you want to make cool website for long terms then you should provide with real information

Originally Posted by Atlas

What are the legalities about providing false info on domain ownership?

I Don't Believe It's Legal , It's Just Against The TOS Of All The Major Domain Providers.

But In All Honestly, I've Yet To Have Heard Of Someone Getting There Domain Canceled Because There Whois Info Was Incorrect.

Hope That Helped

If your whois is incorrect, and if someone finds out your domain register may ask you to update it or they will drop your domain.

"Reuters is reporting that the House of Representatives has recently passed the bill that would approve of penalties for those using fraudulent WHOIS records (H.R. 3632). Interestingly however, this does not directly outlaw it, instead extending the penalty by seven years for felonies performed using such fraudulent websites. The Senate has not yet passed their version (S.2242). The bill as originally written, however, focuses primarily on penalties for promoting counterfeit music, computer programs, and other media with identical labeling."

Couple years old

I've asked my domain provider if they can fake the domain info for me. They said they don't offer such service but that I could go ahead and fake the info in their members area, and it will reflect on the domains aswell.

So they had no problems with me faking the domain info at all.

With a .co.uk you can opt-out of the whois database

For a .com I believe godaddy have an option where they register it on their own name or something

I just add a 0 to my house number which does not exist. In fact I was actually contacted by a co.uk registrar because they apparently mailed some sort of confirmation code to me that I have never received for obvious reasons so I told them that I have made a typo with a house number. They did not do anything.

dynadot is good for that

Originally Posted by mightybh

I just add a 0 to my house number which does not exist. In fact I was actually contacted by a co.uk registrar because they apparently mailed some sort of confirmation code to me that I have never received for obvious reasons so I told them that I have made a typo with a house number. They did not do anything.

THEY probably got a complaint from the scammers that send a letter out making it look like you need to renew your domain for $30 a year.

I thought of putting wrong info in just to cut down on my mail I get

Originally Posted by Atlas

What are the legalities about providing false info on domain ownership?

I Think "Lie" Is A Strong Word For What You Are Trying To Do My Friend.

If You Happened To Leave Out A Few "Key" Details About Yourself, I Could Easily Be Interpreted As A "Mistake".

And If You Are Ever Called On That "Mistake" You Can Always Correct It

It is not illegal in itself, but if it you use fake whois and commit a crime (using the domain as part of this crime I would imagine) you can expect a harsher sentence.

'...When you register a domain, your name, address, email address and phone number are immediately made available to anyone who wants to see them. All your personal information is exposed 24 hours a day, everyday, to anyone, anywhere.

If you register your domain with GoDaddy you can change this by registering a private ("unlisted") registration through Domains By Proxy® (their affiliate company), so that registering a domain name doesn't mean sacrificing your privacy.

All my websites are registered this way. However, if a subpoena is served to GoDaddy because of suspected Internet crime or fraud, they are obliged by law and will release the true registration details to the authorities.

At the moment, if you register or transfer five domain names or more to GoDaddy you will get free privacy on every domain you register.

(Not available for the following domain names: .us .ca .asia .ag .com.ag .net.ag .org.ag .am .at .be .cn .com.cn .org.cn .net.cn .de .eu .fm .gs .jobs .jp .ms .nu .co.nz .net.nz .org.nz .tc .tw .com.tw .org.tw .idv.tw .co.uk .me.uk .org.uk .vg)

themagician

I have done that several times. Worst case is that someone notices that you entered complete rubbish (as I did) and report you.

Next step is, your registrar asks you to correct the data you provided. (no penalties at all)

Then you think of some better fake data and that's it.

It did never go beyond that with any of my domains.

It does make a nice income stream for registrars to use their who-is protection almost seems like a way to force people to use them.

I faked my whois data with hiawatha domains to avoid paying extra for pvt registration and they pulled my domain after two days. They refunded me though.

The reason why i ask is because i am experimenting with a bunch of viral websites. They create a lot of talk and people try to research them and see if its some marketing campaign by a big company. I am getting sick of paying double for private registration. The sites are all totally legal, i just dont want to have my name and address pasted onto forums and sites like Digg/Reddit. The last site i registered i just used a different name, address and phone number. I dont think its a big deal unless your doing something illegal.

Depends on what lying you are doing. If it is lying in the form of identity theft, it is illegal and you can get canned. If it is just lying some random name and address, it is grayhat and the most that can happen is you losing the domain.

people try to research them and see if its some marketing campaign by a big company.

if it's an big thing..
i wouldn't do this if you are living in europe

but since your living on an airship you should be fine

Originally Posted by BozoClown

Depends on what lying you are doing. If it is lying in the form of identity theft, it is illegal and you can get canned. If it is just lying some random name and address, it is grayhat and the most that can happen is you losing the domain.

Dude You Have Superman, Batman And Chuck Norris Thanking You.....You're The SH*IT!!!

i think they can close you down maybe

Good info, I've always wondered about this too

This is why you should have a PO box or a virtual office. I have both