[Tristan Lall]

In English, there's no linguistic distinction between a name or acronym being written in plain typeface versus italics—so in conventional usage, there's no standard meaning. (Contrast that with the use of italics to signify a book title, or for contextual emphasis.) So when you choose to italicize it, you'll confuse a subset of readers, who will wonder what the special significance of the name is. Is it colloquial usage? Is there something about the context that makes the name important?

So what's the point? It's pretty much like asking (very politely) that my name be written only with a drop shadow. In other words, it's a little absurd.

Actually, if I remember correctly, the intention was to distinguish the name and acronym "FIRSТ" from the word "first". It seems to me that the capitalization already accomplishes this sufficiently well.

But then again, if the filter is so desperately wanted, make sure it can be turned off and that it doesn't apply to past posts (e.g. it's applied at preview-time or submission-time, rather than at render-time).