Hi -
I recently did a WHOIS search on a website that I visit...
Their WHOIS information is absolute bologna...
Is it illegal to provide false information on the domain's WHOIS?
If yes, what can I do?

Contact the registrar and notify them regarding this. They will contact their client and will advice him to update his contact info.

Interesting info regarding this subject can be found here

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,62198,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

It is easier to contact icann, since icann will log the complaint and send it to the registrar.

Originally posted by dmaven
It is easier to contact icann, since icann will log the complaint and send it to the registrar.

... and then the registrar will do absolutely nothing, and after a few months ICANN will send you a follow-up questionnaire, and you tick the "registar did absolutely nothing" box, and the registrar will still do absolutely nothing. Waste of time!

I used to think that the ICANN Whois Complaint form works, but it doesn't seem to.

You might try complaining to the hosting ISP, although chances are pretty good that it's an unscrupulous ISP.

Using the ICANN Complaint Form is, supposedly, the "correct "procedure.

It's just that - like so many things with ICANN - it doesn't work.

http://wdprs.internic.net/

make sure they are not using a whois guard though..

why bother if they not doing anything illegal activities.

why bother if they not doing anything illegal activities.

How do you know they're not?

The ones I reported were all spammers - child pornography spammers in some cases. And it makes me so angry that nothing was done about them.

If it's child pornography it could be of interest to the FBI, at least if any part of it (the spam, the webpage, or the linked webpages) were hosted in the U.S.
To look up the registry of the host by DNS number, try
http://www.arin.net/whois/
If ARIN refers you to APNIC, RIPE, or LACNIC, then it is outside ARIN's region.
To resolve a domain name to a DNS number, try using traceroute. There are several online traceroute sites. Also in Windows 95 or above, with your connection to the internet open, go into DOS.
A typical DOS command (using this forum's domain as an example) might look something like:
c:\tracert webhostingtalk.com
or
c:\tracert www.webhostingtalk.com

Originally posted by Lubeca
... and then the registrar will do absolutely nothing, and after a few months ICANN will send you a follow-up questionnaire, and

actually ICANN and the registrar will sometimes do something, i know of a complaint that took from May till last week, but it was corrected

If its child porno then I am sure the registrar will take instant action.

Originally posted by CSDesk
If its child porno then I am sure the registrar will take instant action.

If that's generalizing, then it's wrong. Some registrars may take
action, others won't.

Registrars aren't judges or juries, nor should they be. But if they
want to put on the mantle, what is your recourse if they did you
in and turn out to be in the wrong?

Depending on the territory's laws, is a phone company liable if 1
of its customers uses its phone lines for its phone-sex service?

I've only heard of one case of the false WHOIS ever doing anything. Other then that... nothing. I would hazard a guess that complaining does virtually nothing in real terms. I also have to say, providing all the information for the WHOIS is alot of BS too with the way it is setup and the amount of mining that happens to it. I think Nominet with their opt-out option is a really good one. Wish other registries would catch on. it gives you the choice to leave information or not, and I believe information is still retrievable if you email nominet with a legitimate reason. Im not sure about that though.

Originally posted by kohashi
I've only heard of one case of the false WHOIS ever doing anything. Other then that... nothing. I would hazard a guess that complaining does virtually nothing in real terms. I also have to say, providing all the information for the WHOIS is alot of BS too with the way it is setup and the amount of mining that happens to it. I think Nominet with their opt-out option is a really good one. Wish other registries would catch on. it gives you the choice to leave information or not, and I believe information is still retrievable if you email nominet with a legitimate reason. Im not sure about that though.

The Nominet whois only allows for opt out if the registrant is an individual and more importantly not trading or using the domain for anything other than personal reasons.
Many UK domains are currently registered incorrectly because of this and could be deleted or the registrant made to update the information.

If you notice a .uk domain that has been opted out of the Whois when it shouldn't have been - just tell Nominet. They'll have a look at the web site, and if it's a trading web site the registrant's details will go back in the Whois in a flash.

I dont trust whois searches on websites that i dont know of.. i only use internic.com. i heard there are people out there creating whois sites just to find out what people are searching for..

Originally posted by Lubeca
... and then the registrar will do absolutely nothing, and after a few months ICANN will send you a follow-up questionnaire, and you tick the "registar did absolutely nothing" box, and the registrar will still do absolutely nothing. Waste of time!

I used to think that the ICANN Whois Complaint form works, but it doesn't seem to.

Right.. that's because ICANN has such a low budget that they're at the mercy of their members (the registrars) and absolutely nothing will happen to the registrar if they don't follow through with an ICANN complaint. Your best bet would be to contact the registrar's abuse@ email address.

f0r warez they dont shutdown either =] ...its a sad thing ..but for child pornography (nasty) should be banned right away.

Originally posted by varg
Right.. that's because ICANN has such a low budget that they're at the mercy of their members (the registrars)

Their recent hikes have significantly increased their budget

Originally posted by dmaven
Their recent hikes have significantly increased their budget

Does this mean they're now more capable of doing something
about those false WHOIS reports? ;)