I am going to buy a throwaway phone soon.  I can pay cash for the phone and minutes, but it looks like I need to register the phone and activate it online.  Part of that deal is to create an online account with the phone company.  They only ask for name and email address.  I have a dummy email I can give them, but I don't really want to give them my real name.  QUESTION:  Can I give a false name on a website registration without doing something illegal???  No billing will ever be done to the account name (unless I buy more time online, which I will not), so I think it's harmless.

Opinions welcome on this.

Is there anything in the fine (or not so fine) print on the form that indicates that any false information you give them is a violation of any law?

If so, then ipso facto, giving false information under those circumstances is most likely punishable.

If not, it could still be a crime, but probably only if LE can show that the intention behind giving the false name was to commit a crime.

That last part is very probematic to prove.

(still not a lawyer)

The registration portion of trackphones can be bypassed. DO NOT register the phone from your home phone. If you can find a payphone register from there. I need a little more info to help you, what is the brand of hobby phone. It sounds like att, and I just looked at the fcc regs on registering prepaids to false names. Theoretically you could get in trouble, but the lingo strikes me as more of a suggestion. My day job is in an IT capasity for a cell manufacturer. It's common knowlege in the industry that prepaids are never registered correctly. On the backend of things, even if you register everything to a "T" it doesn't log in the system. Many times the users address will show up as  the store the phone was purchased at. I saw one registered to Bugs Bunny one time.  I have several pre paids falsely registered. For my own safety my published number stays the same, but the number I return calls on changes quite often.

I put in the first letter & it was accepted.  
skb

I believe that TracPhone will do the same. Verizon, AT&T and others require registration. What a crock! I called T-Mobile from the brand new phone and took care of all the details right on the phone. Of course I had already purchased a large "minute card" with cash. I told them that it was a totally private phone and that said that they could respect that and needed no more information other than serial number, Mei number, telephone number etc. The phone is very basic with no GPS but with a camera. Of course tracking is still possible with triangulation with is rarely used any more but still possible. Look into it. You can get a new phone every time you need minutes and they are CHEAP! (20.00)

They didn't before. I just made a separate email just for them & made up a name...and if you want to be even more anonymous, go somewhere where you get free wi-fi or even better an internet cafe and use their computer to register.

xxx
Jinni

If you register over the phone( a pay phone) you can bypass where it asks for personal info. Just stay on the line. I know for sure with virgin mobile and track phone

that my name was Johnny...  Cash!!   After a second he got the point & completed my sale before I left the merchandise on the counter.
skb