Hi I know alot of you will either agree, or disagree with this idea, but I believe a company e.g. Google, should by or take over dmoz, pay staff to get rid of all the dead links etc and turn it into a paid directory e.g. $50 for perm link. This would sort of the bad sites, from the good, as only dedicated webmasters would pay an entry fee. Is this does not happen, DMOZ might aswell give up, as it gets worst everyday
Bad sites usually have more money - that is why they are bad! Most of my websites are too obscure to be worth $50 for a link especially since only one of them is actually making anything and covering hosting costs of the rest.
Via their stake in AOL, Google already have a 5% stake in DMOZ. And of course AOL is a "company" of some significance itself. And what is the point of yet another paid directory? The unique selling point of DMOZ is that it is free and volunteer driven. Which gives everyone an equal chance of not getting listed regardless of the value of their marketing budget. If you want to pay for a directory entry then Yahoo will gladly take your money. Some of the best sites I listed were from people using free hosts and DIY web designs, certainly no budget for directory entries and no lack of commitment.
I agree with brizzie and copperdrum. TimeWarner owns AOL so hopefully there are enough large companies that can claim ownership of DMOZ to satisfy you bacanze.
Dont think google will want that measly $50 =p Besides by keeping it free it gives everyone the same chance, for someone in Romania $50 is a lot.