And i see you got 10 merit already, and that was for good posts. I would not care about the rank on thoose posts just the quality. So restricting rank up with merits is still what i see as the best way to stop the spam.
That was a bit of a surprise, as I didn't expect to get any merit for that alt. The upgrade to member will be useful though, as it will allow me to include links in the signature.