I don't get it. They're concerned about people abusing the system, and their solution is... requiring KYC? How does that solve the issue? It sounds like bot makes can still passively collect the info, it's just that when it gets discovered they can point to a real person to blame. Moreover, why do bots even need to know the online/offline status of users? Why not add a permission system so users can opt in/out of providing this sort of information to bots? I'm not a discord bot maker, but there's plenty of hobby/side projects I'm willing to provide to users for free, but not willing to attach my real life identity to.

It lets them hold the bot author legally liable for malfeasance, which is difficult if you’re only a throwaway Gmail address.

> Why not add a permission system so users can opt in/out of providing this sort of information to bots?

The bots provide a function for the "server" and the server operator. That's like saying "Why not just provide a system for users to opt out of ChanServ/NickServ".

> I'm not a discord bot maker

You don't say. Go to a random Discord server and you will see how bots are used. Your solution makes no sense and would kill most of the current use cases.