No I'm not, I back you completely, I came in on two points balkanboy, YMC's and the fact you thought thier suggestion wouldn't work and of course yours as OP. Problem is most designers are pretty reputable as I see it, and if they followed your guidelines (they could never be rules) then they would be even better. Sad fact as well though is that as good as your guidelines are there will always be abuse of them as some people just aren't prepared to listen.
I didn't miss your point and neither did Pheonix - unscrupulous designers are taking advantage of newbie directory owners who might be looking for and using one of these free sponsored templates. I'm not sure the real problem here is on the side of the users who implement these free sponsored templates being mistreated - the downside seems much more for the designers and sponsors. Having a gentlemen's-type agreement has been in place all the while. Your putting it to paper, while well-intentioned, isn't going to change anything. What I suggest protects everyone involved designer, sponsor, newbie directory owner, and even the script owner (bad behavior by designers can and does reflect on the script too). I think phpLynx implementing such a system will put out a loud and clear message that this directory stuff is a business and like any business there needs to be rules.