Open Beta is just that, open. Anyone one who wants can sign up. They will hold sign-ups before they bring up the servers (at least I think so.) They may just offer the download and then you create an account and start playing. Who knows really. The basic idea is, anyone who wants can play. They do this to further test the server stability, and to try and find some more "wide-spread" bugs that maybe people in CB haven't encountered yet. In reality, it's to get you hooked and make you buy the game.
