Isn't this a little extreme to, essentially, stop 3 names being used? It's a huge removal of functionality to clans who have always used <> for their clan tag. You said yourself that "obviousness is relative to the observer" you then went on to say that "[] ...were obviously the best alternative."
Well I'm sorry to say that it's not obvious to me...
Let me put it another way:
If I have my name as I don't look like an admin, so why shouldn't I be allowed to call myself ?