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I don't know about the technical side but from the user side it means I know I have registered and agreed to whatever it is I agreed to when I signed up on a site. That means I have responsibility for it and if someone did it for me and I don't like it I can let the site know it was done in error. it seems to me to be pretty common protocol from any site that has registration. From the tech side suspect it is necessary as a way to record the ip of the user. But this is a guess as I am no techie.
Can't tell you how to remove it because I wouldn't want to. If you wish to avoid it you can open sections up to anonymous users - not point in registering if there is no regkey IMHO. (Note if you open up to anonymous expect lots of spam in your comments)
What did you find on the purpose and nature of regkey through a search here and on google?