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I'd personally say yes, b/c other SEO geeks could look that up and tell immediately.  In practice, I see people do this and it works.  The key - thinking as if some real human looks at these sites - is that the content be unique.   If you are just creating 3 sites targeting the same keywords but are unique in their own way, then what's wrong with that?  Nothing.  If I was an attorney then I'd seriously have issues, but I don't think it matters that much if you aren't black hatting your link building.