Hive account@timcliuff,

I am astonished by what I've been reading on "Justification Posts" for the softfork.

For years, Top 20 Witnesses not only supported bidbots, they owned and operated them. Vote buying and selling, the very dictionary definition of corruption in any system predicated upon voting.

• "Well, everyone has a right to vote their stake."

Along comes Hive account@justinsunsteemit who buys out Steemit Inc. ... and all of a sudden he's not allowed to vote his stake!? So what if the Top 20 Witnesses don't like his ideas? So what if he shuts down some of their pet projects?

That would just be him "voting his stake."

None of the Top 20 Witnesses took or take any heed of the army of voices screaming bloody murder about their self-serving tactics but we're all supposed to care when they are now, potentially, on the receiving end.

None of this matters.

If Hive account@justinsunsteemit decides to take legal action, which I would encourage him to do, any judge on the planet would call this Theft and Extortion. I ran a hedge fund for 20 years and am extremely familiar with securities law. Any Witness who voted for this abomination is very likely going to jail. It's that black and white.

Here's a suggestion: The Top 20 Witnesses need to IMMEDIATELY consult an attorney ... something they should have done BEFORE undertaking this asinine caper.

Irrespective of what Justin decides to do, the Top 20 Witnesses just waived a huge red flag in front of the SEC practically daring them to intervene. The SEC will not require a complaint from Justin to open an investigation (and yes, the SEC will easily be able to assert U.S. jurisdiction).

Tim, as per usual, you're the one Top 20 Witness that manages to show some restraint and common sense.

Note to all Steemians: Because of Tim's non-support for the softfork, he's likely to drop out of the Top 20 Witnesses if he hasn't already. If you haven't voted for him already, do so now.

Quill