It's not so much about "sticking to our roots" Tao, it's about the name's ability to instantly (InstantXly?) define that Darkcoin addresses the entire realm of ever increasing government and big business incursion into the financial transactions of everyone. Its name is an immediate differentiator to Bitcoin and sets it apart from virtually everything else. While many people are very worried about the name's almost total (in perception) connection to the world of nefarious human activity, that's one way of defining the word "dark" and doesn't mean it will always be seen this way. The name carries connotations that are both positive and negative.
I've voted to keep it as Darkcoin; I don't think it could have a better name that ruffles feathers so much and gives it such an edge. There just isn't another name that comes close to cutting through rhetoric and making it clear as to exactly what it achieves. So many businesses won't touch it, but many others will and as attitudes to the "I'm from the government. I'm here to help" assurance start to wane towards the realisation this is often a facade, there'll be greater widespread understanding as to what anonymity is really all about and the lights will start to come on in people's thinking.
Darkcoin; forever Dark!
Ruffles feathers, perhaps, but the average person struggling to understand bitcoin will be far less likely to want to adopt something named Darkcoin. By all means, I am 100% content with the name and leaving it as is... if everyone realizes any chance of mainstream adoption is off the table. Regulations aside (which will already be a hurdle due to the privacy-centric nature of the coin), there is far more perceived negativeness to the name as it stands. If it's agreed to stay the same, then wasting resources on mainstream adoption seems fruitless, and any large scale marketing firm should be able to further reiterate that fact. If the name stays, then market towards the neglected undergrounds markets--black market, gambling, and porn. The biggest problem I see right now with Darkcoin is the fact that it is trying to do too much with no clear direction. If you are pitching mainstream adoption, really, the name has to be changed. Mom and pop shops, grandmas, etc, just aren't going to understand it--even after the learning curve to understand crypto. If you are keeping it the same, then the push should be towards underground trade that is going to continue to happen regardless and gambling (large enough markets in their own right).
It's the stubbornness right now and the fanboyism in not seeing the forest through the trees to only look at the crypto market as the sole influence for branding.