Falsifying owner of a domain

is it illegal?

[Lorel]

I know of a website that I believe has falsified the true owner of the domain.

Is this illegal?

[fischermx]

Yes, it is illegal, but hard to inforce.
You can report it in the icann website.

[Lex_Luther]

I thought it was only illegal if used to cover up criminal activity?

[nativenewyorker]

Falsifying whois information is a violation of ICANN rules and such domains are subject to deletion by either the registry or registrar.

IANAL but IMO, legality would depend on the jurisdiction which has authority.

[Lorel]

This is great! news.

Now my next question, is how to investigate if the purchaser of the domain used false info?

Should I contact Arin with my suspicions or the company that registered the domain and would they even tell me?

[AlexMiles]

>Is this illegal?

I hope not or there are several teddies and a cactus in big trouble :(

[crescenta]

I don't know if it's illegal, but as others have said, it's a violation and if someone is exposed for giving false WHOIS info, they can lose the domain.