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> Does this happen in the real world, rather than be a theoretical concern?

Heck yes. 99% of the stuff advertised to me in big money advertising campaigns is stuff that I will never want. If that doesn't count as "bogus projects sponsored by wealthy companies" then I don't know what does.

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In the real world, do wealthy companies want to be named on this list of 3 or 4 groups spamming NPM? That’s a lot different than being seen buying a banner ad.

That's probably where the reputation part would come in - fair enough. Still, a large wealthy company might consider creating an "unaffiliated" front company to act on their behalf. For example, take out a legit open source competitor by having the front publish a mediocre bogus project with very similar name. Or paying a small fee to bundle malware into a legit FOSS.

So, similar to Twitter's blue check mark - Yes, asking a "small fee" adds friction, but it's not an obstacle to the wealthy.

Most of that seems _very_ theoretical, with the exception of "paying to bundle malware into legit FOSS".

Unfortunately, that last one deserves a special Fuck You to the main developers of FileZilla, who have knowingly bundled malware for years. :(

For anyone that doesn't know about it, here's a forum thread about it they haven't deleted:

https://forum.filezilla-project.org/viewtopic.php?t=50565

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