As I said, I haven't really given this issue too much thought before. My initial reaction when I first heard about this a few years ago was that it is a ridiculous scam.

But I want to play devil's advocate here because its possible that we've got a biased view (being oriented toward the science of astronomy).

To use a different example consider flowers. They have common names and scientific latin names. Which is the real name? Well it depends upon your purpose. For the average person they see the "sunflower" while the scientist knows the same plant as Helianthus Annuus. Is the scientists name any more correct than the common name? That really depends upon the purpose. For scientific classification the answer is yes. For the average person the common name is the better name.

Why should it be any different for the stars? The formal scientific names or identifications of stars are useful for scientific cataloging and cross comparisons from different data sources. But what difference does that make to the average person not involved in amateur astronomy or astronomical research?

Ambitious people could certainly name a few stars themselves - or even make up their own constellations. But what these star naming companies are doing is offering a service. They're saying they'll create a "registry" and select specific stars for which people can buy the rights to name those stars in that registry. If we object strongly to the star registry companies aren't we really saying that we think only astronomers have the "right" to name stars? Who authorized astronomers as the sole proprietors of star naming? What harm is being done by companies setting up their own registry for naming stars so that the "little person" on the street can participate in naming the stars up there? The purpose in this case is not scientific.

I think someone could make this argument. As long as the product is not improperly advertised so that the purchaser gets the impression they are buying a government or IAU sanctioned name, is there really a crime here. They aren't suggesting that the people have bought the star itself. Its a business. If there is a market for the product, then it will sell. The product that they're offering is a chance for a person to purchase a personalized name for a specific star in a specific registry that is published even though not affiliated with any government or the IAU.

A productive idea might be to actually evaluate the quality of the product offered by these star naming companies. How much scientific information do they provide about the star? Do they give accurate coordinates, spectral class, surface temperature, color, distance, the official scientific name/number of the star and so on? Do they give the purchaser a choice of certain stellar characteristics? Do they provide a short booklet about the actual scientific naming and basics of stars?

Ok, I've just played devil's advocate and in this case I think I swayed myself to the position that the star registry's should be left alone as long as they're not guilty of false/misleading product advertising. However, they should be encouraged to take an educational approach to their product if they do not already.