I haven't really given this issue a lot of thought before. Interesting.

AGN do you think there is harm to the living in naming a star after a dead relative? Was that woman comforted to see a star that was "named" after her husband?

I guess it boils down to the question of false advertising. Do the people who buy these stars understand that the names are not considered official by the astronomical community and therefore it is only "official" in the registry of the company they "bought" the star name from?

I like the idea of privately naming a star for your children. I'll have to take the kids out and do that sometime.
Its free and to a young child it won't matter a bit that its not official.