At what point would it be illegal to have a fake online identity?

August 2, 2013 5:36 PM

I am considering creating a fake online identity to run some websites (it's much more boring than you think, nothing sexy or whatever). A pen name. None of the website will be illegal or about illegal activity but my identity would be fake. Once I start going farther down the rabbit hole (agreements with Ad Sense and affiliates, for example) would I be doing anything illegal?

I just want to make sure I know where the line is so I don't cross it.

For any payments I will use a business that is not easily tied to my real identity (like, really not easily. I've gone to great lengths to figure that out). Those payments go to a legitimate business, deposited to bank accounts in the US that have to satisfy all Patriot Act requirements etc. The bank knows who I am, but the person writing the check to "XYZ Incorporated" does not. I'm OK with the bank knowing... again, if the Feds or James Bond want to find out who I am they can with a warrant or a fancy hack (but I'm not worried about that).

But, let's say I digitally sign agreements with affiliate networks as my fake name. Maybe they have tax forms that need to be "signed" by a representative of the business (again, payment goes to the legitimate TIN of the business). Are we getting onto thin ice? Only if something goes wrong...?

Of course I'd create social networking pages under the fake name.

I don't know if there's any mail or wire fraud here? I mean, I think I'm just trying to use a pen name but maybe that's dangerous.

Not being anonymous is not an option because of my work environment. BTW, just being anonymous doesn't seem to work because real sounding names are required for some of the things I want to do.

Any advice is appreciated. I accept that YANML and it's my own problem if I get in hot water...

posted by anonymous to Law & Government (6 answers total)

IANYL, TINLA.

For all people and all businesses, all taxes need to be 100% by-the-book. All contracts need to be 100% by-the-book. Any contact with a regulatory agency or law enforcement needs to be 100% by-the-book. This means no fake names.

In the United States, anonymous speech is a facet of the speech that is protected by the First Amendment. By default, nobody is under any obligation to disclose their name in WHOIS data. By default, nobody is under an obligation to correspond with private individuals using their real name. Using a fake name may violate the terms of service of various online platforms, so it is imperative that people understand what the risk and consequences are before doing it.

The short version of all this is that since you are apparently going into business and are currently flying by the seat of your pants, you need to confer with an attorney in your jurisdiction. Any attorney should be able to answer the bare legal questions for you as they are likely easy under the law of your jurisdiction, but an attorney with extensive small business experience is more likely to guide you to the best solutions for your needs. It would not be a bad idea either to speak with a CPA to understand how you can preserve relative anonymity while making sure that all money flows are properly documented and the appropriate taxes are paid.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 5:46 PM on August 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

After you've spoken to your lawyer and accountant to set up your business name, you will be doing nothing wrong by interacting with customers in your fake persona, as far as I understand it. Contracts and taxes are taken care of by Real Name, marketing/content is taken care of by Persona. Sort of how Lemony Snicket has a "business manager" (wink wink) who does the public appearances for him.
posted by blnkfrnk at 6:02 PM on August 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

IANAL The solution that occurs to me is to form some sort of LLC or the like with a VERY trusted friend and let said friend sign any financial documents, other than the ones you need to set up the LLC. I'm not sure if you can ultimately keep total legal anonymity in a financial venture due to the reason correctly stated above, but you could possibly maintain enough of a veil that someone would have to know to look for you to find you, if that makes sense.

I think you need to think long and hard about whether this venture is lucrative and/or entertaining enough to risk your livelihood, if that's what it entails. I have risked social embarrassment online, but I wouldn't do anything online publicly that my boss would fire me for if he knew.
posted by randomkeystrike at 8:46 PM on August 2, 2013

Register a DBA (doing business as) name with your state. Some places they're really expensive, but in my state, it's just $7 to file for one.
posted by limeonaire at 8:54 PM on August 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

Echoing Limonaire, a DBA sounds like it could be what you want.

This is not legal advice, but rather some general information regarding DBAs (aka FBNs, ficticious business names).

Some general background info: DBAs are the way you (or an existing company) can do business under an assumed name without creating a new legal entity. You do this by filing a form application with the appropriate office in your jurisdiction, paying a registration fee, and usually by publishing a "ficticious business name statement" in a paper of record (any newspaper that carries legal announcements. Doesn't have to be the major paper in your area, often smaller papers offer special rates for this.)

"DBA" is the way you'll see your accounts described at the institutions that care and ask about your true legal identity, like banks. (Real Name dba Fake Name). However, once your dba is filed you can use that name as a stand in for your own, for most business purposes.

A quick encapsulation of your immediate options: you can find a lawyer or legal services company to help you with this, use a Nolo-style self help book, or maybe just go by whatever instructions are available from the appropriate government office wherever you are, if it's clear enough to you.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:42 PM on August 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

You start to cross the line when you head toward attempting to hide income or defraud people. Short of that, following the above advice should suffice. As long as you aren't pretending to be someone else (as opposed to pretending to be nobody), you should be fine. So if your pen name is Barack Obama, that's probably not a good idea. But if your penname is Clinton Barack, that's a much better choice.
posted by gjc at 4:25 AM on August 3, 2013