there is no Proof of Scam.
I believe you are on to something here. Proof-of-scam can actually be argued as a reason for making a speculative purchase in an alt-coin. A speculator buys in just for the hype--he doesn't drink the "this-will-be-the-next-bitcoin" koolaid--and he plans to trade back into bitcoin before the bubble is over.
If this theory turns out to be empirically true, I think it adds more evidence to the notion that all alt-coins will eventually die as the life-and-death cycle of altcoins becomes more clear. According to your proof-of-scam theory, since the scamcoins have the greatest chance of being pumped (and later dumped), there is less interest in non-scamcoins because their is little incentive to pump them in the first place.
Personally, I support the spin-off mechanism for launching new experimental alt-coins. Bootstrapping the coin with a Blockchain-based initial coin distribution makes it more difficult to pump and dump, and automatically piggybacks all bitcoin holders to any real innovations in cryptocurrency. Spin-offs allow for innovation without threatening the wealth encoded in the Blockchain Ledger
I have been following your spin-off idea since its inception and I have to say it's a really interesting one and I would love to see it implemented, just to see what happens. Are there currently any plans for such an implementation? Unfortunately my coding knowledge is zero but I'm willing to support such an endeavour by donating BTC.
This then begs the question of which protocol would be a good candidate for the first try. I suppose it should be one which offers some features which are incompatible with Bitcoins core protocol and thus can't be implemented on the Bitcoin blockchain. This thread has made me painfully aware of how little I know about the alt-coin universe so I don't have any suggestions for likely candidates. Any ideas?
Also thanks Risto, for another quality thread, as usual.