G'day Steven,
After reading all of this, I only have one question left...is the Register ever considered a reliable source per WP:Notability? Is there some way we can list it as being unsuitable for referencing?
/The Register/ is a tabloid. It's trashy, chatty, often interesting[0], sometimes relevant, frequently inaccurate. So is /The Daily Telegraph/. So is /The New York Post/. So is /The Daily Mail/.
For our purposes, the only major difference between /The Register/ and, say, /The Herald Sun/ is that the Reg had the temerity to make mistakes in an article about Wikipedia[1], instead of in every other article.
I wouldn't trust it, but then I wouldn't trust most tabloids. And there are those who say the same about Wikipedia. Takes all kinds.
[0] "I only read it for the BOFH."
[1] Oh, and it publishes Andrew Orlowski. Hmm, there's a point.