Well, the way I look at it, I don't see a problem with building on other people's attempts. I'm dying to know how anyone's managed to implement (e.g.) 11-byte email validation, and if I can find an even shorter solution, so much the better to help everyone else learn some regex tricks too!
On the other hand, if you're planning on adding something like a public leaderboard of names, then I guess that would change the nature of the game. Glory, instead of learning or personal challenge. And cheating becomes a problem.