They've said over and over they won't share rep because.. uh.. immersion or continuity or somesuch whaargarble.
Hell, I wept tears of joy when I realized all my mounts were shared. The legacy system in TOR shits all over wow in a lot of other ways though. Shared rep, shared perks etc. And some weird incomprehensible system for sharing store-bought shit across characters (for another fee). It reinforces the idea that you are meant to play through different classes storylines without getting punched in the dick for doing so. (except fuck doing all those filler quests again)
Now, a game that truly needs shared rep is fucking Rift. Because fuck those reputation grinds.