At least in Missouri you have to take a test to get your license, so there is the education value that you at least know enough about the title industry to pass the test.

Secondly, in Missouri, you are required to be licensed or use a licensed abstractor to even fill a document retrieval order, save the general public researching their own property.  Now the enforcement of that is up to the Missouri Department of Insurance.  They will go after unlicensed abstractors and title companies as they discover them.

So licensing will eliminate most off shore companies that don't get licensed but it is up to the client weighing the costs of using the off-shore unlicensed abstractors vs getting caught and fined by the state.