If protecting name-space is the idea, then why not just make it so that an account generated with POW needs to have at least one number in it?
I don't see why this would be necessary. If POW is implemented, why not just let users pick whatever name they want? POW is not a "free" signup. There is a cost associated with running the server to complete the POW. My guess is it would actually be more expensive to create an account that way, but it depends on how much competition there is.
we heard from STEEMIT that there was waiting lists and the POW idea would solve at least that problem so we can grow the user base faster.
I don't know if that is going to solve the problem. How many of those users do you think would be able to setup a Steem blockchain node and submit a POW?
We should really remove bandwidth requirements on PowerUP, I cannot think of one idea why having any default restriction on PowerUP is necessary, do you guys?
There are bandwidth changes coming with HF20. Part of that includes all accounts will have a minimum balance of SP for bandwidth, even if their account has 0 SP in it. This should allow users to power up, even if they don't have any SP.
It is necessary to have some restriction there though. If there was no restriction on powering up, then a DOS attacker could just power up a whole bunch of 0.001 STEEM to DOS the blockchain.