TrackBack is one of those technologies that seemed so right at the time it was invented, but which has fallen far short of its potential. We use TrackBack here to track who links to SiliconBeat. But we also spend a fair bit of time playing whack-a-mole with TrackBack spammers. It's gotten so bad that many bloggers have given up on the concept. Not so the inventors of TrackBacks. Ben and Mena Trott, who originally created TrackBacks for their Movable Type blogging tool and the blogging community at-large, want to resolve the issues around TrackBacks and pinging. They're suggesting a TrackBack Charter and a standard. More info here and here.