Interesting points.  I do see that there appear to be some underlying presumptions that are being made as to the use and application of this sort of online resource.

I'm not convinced by any arguements that this should be or become a "universal title plant".  The flaws that you point out are considerable and I could list of many others which would make such a resource unreliable for a singular commercial use by this industry.  It would be as statistically unreliable as any online database, whether Wikipedia or Arizona's Maricopa county records. 

However, that is not to say that Wikipedia or the available online records are worthless or without merit.  They are a valuable resource, none the less, providing an increasingly mobile society the ability to review records of their vacation or family homes that are maintained at a distance.  Holding property in Texas and Utah myself, I appreciate the availability of online records for being able to review my property values, property tax payment histories, and to help ensure that nobody has attempted to steal my property through fraud.  On a personal level, I don't mind the fact that my public records are available on the internet.  Part of this naturally stems from the fact that I hold property in trusts which are far harder to trace back to a single person, IF you take such measures to protect your assets (one such asset being your own privacy rights).

The development of such an online resource for limited use as a "universal title plant" would, in some ways, subvert its value of it to the general public by making it into just another "Experian" / TRW / Private Credit agency, rather than a treasured resource for the common use by people everywhere.  The value of this system in maintaining an independent set of public records would be realized by displaced peoples in Central America and the Middle East.  Given the history of the 20th Century, such a system would certainly have helped them to establish their historical property claims.  This is but one example of how such a project could benefit the common good in the 21st Century. 

Perhaps another starting point that does not rely upon our industry to pool our relatively few records would make sense.  A Microsoft endowment or another less "bottom up" way of starting might make sense for such a project.  This discussion has indeed helped to focus that concept, and I hope to clarify that the goal of such a project is not to remove title searchers jobs, but to continue to build on the great works of civilization, like the internet, by creating valuable resources that all people can benefit from.