That's an interesting question, but I'm not necessarily concerned with that. For instance, a foursquare-like service would offer badges based not on merit but

That's an interesting question, but I'm not necessarily concerned with that. For instance, a foursquare-like service would offer badges based not on merit but on how many times you've visited a certain location or how many checkins you perform in a night. That service could use our badges API to award these badges, and not have to write/maintain that portion themselves.