This aspect of the Powered! Program is actually by design. We can not extend our Page Rank benefit to every single site on the Internet which signs up for the Powered! program as it would drag the Page Rank for dotnetnuke.com downward ( and reduce the value for those sites which provide us with the most value ).
From Google:
"Building link popularity through link exchange means to find partner sites whose webmasters are willing to add a link pointing to your website, in exchange to a link pointing to their website from yours. It is a web implementation of the principle "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours". Google uses this technique as the basis of its Page Rank formula. Google's algorithm uses the vast link structure of the web as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important." Establishing a link exchange with another website may appear to visitors as an "association" between the partners. It is therefore important that you only "associate" with high-quality, credible websites. Exchanging links with poor-quality or low-content website may harm your reputation and your page rank."
"Reciprocal link building campaigns may trigger a Google penalty or cause a SERPS filter to be applied when the same or very similar link anchor text is used over and over again and large numbers of reciprocal links are added in a relatively short time. The dangers are made worse by adding reciprocal links to low quality sites or websites which have an unrelated theme. This can lead to a backlink over optimisation penalty (known as a BLOOD to SEO experts!). a Google backlink over optimisation penalty causes a sudden drops in SERPS ranking (often severe). To avoid this problem, reciprocal link exchange should only be used as part of a more sustainable SEO strategy which also builds quality one way links to original website content. Adding reciprocal links to unrelated sites is a risky SEO strategy, as is reciprocal link exchange with low quality websites."
The Powered! module ranks sites based on the number of referrals sent to dotnetnuke.com per day. As a result, those sites which have more constant referral traffic to dotnetnuke.com are ranked higher. So there is a PR benefit for “some” sites - not every site. The main goal of the program was to provide a solution for those people who have long been asking for a way to show affiliation to DotNetNuke. We could have just posted a bunch of logos but we decided to provide additional value. There is value in terms of visibility but only to end users who page through the list of sites ( the number of sites displayed on Page 1 is configurable ). There is also some page rank value for the highest referral partners.
There definitely seems to be some misunderstanding but I think the text on the Powered! page is fairly clear:
Website Owners: Register your domain and join our link exchange! You can gain valuable visibility and exposure by having your domain listed right here on www.dotnetnuke.com. This program is for everyone! So whether your site is a DotNetNuke resource portal, a business site or a personal blog you can now get your links promoted with us! Our most valuable referral partners will benefit from increased page ranking, greater website traffic and better search engine placement. Your use of DotNetNuke has helped to make us more visible... allow us to return the favor!