It seems kind of odd to me to rely on some kind of external hidden "credit agency"-style company for this? And why would DUNS want to know about some kid in their basement in Bangledesh making (non-malicious) apps, and why would the kid want Dun & Bradstreet to know about them? It makes no sense at all.
It's not that the identity prevents malware/abuse, but publishing any malware to the store burns the identity and establishing another is harder than simply coming up with a new email address. It's not necessarily the best scheme out of there, but it makes sense given their apparent goal.
Youc an see the zeitgeist forming around corporations wanting to lock out any small unlicensed company from working on phones.
The key is mostly fascism in the guise of "security". Witness stuff like the ICE tracker app. Google would love a way to freeze out both it's appearance on the app store and any developer who'd program similar.