We agree that under normal circumstances once the EOSIO constitution is ratified by token holders, and we have ECAF as the enabled arbitration service, Block Producers should and will not have any say in such matters - we will just execute such orders.
If we as BP's do nothing, it is total abdication which goes back to "code is law" with all its limitations as we see with Ethereum for example. Our decision to act to enable arbitration to take place on the case is the BP's attempting to follow governance to the best degree possible. There is no good answer, only least bad.
We all take this very seriously, and the BP's have already filed yesterday an arbitration case with ECAF against ourselves (submitted by Rick Schlesinger of EOS New York on our collective behalf).
BPs are here to run the network, and act on orders as per stakeholders votings. not to do some shady backyard deals
For example, let's say you accidentally got your private key compromised, and you want to freeze your account immediately, but there's no arbitration forum established yet. Would you have to get votes from the whole community?
I'd be out of luck. no one said that EOS is meant for inexperienced at the beginning. there is nothing in place or working that's making it different from any other blockchain
I respect your position and agree without the arbitration forum up and running, we're missing a critically important key for this system to function properly, but I'd also so we do have something different in place from other blockchains in that we can temporarily prevent these funds from moving around until the forum is set up and a ruling is made. That's technically something we're capable of doing as BPs to protect that property which is inline with the spirit of the "law" of this blockchain, even if all the tools to do it aren't in place yet, and we'd prefer not to do anything at all until those tools are in place.
Once the arbitration forum is in place, any attempt to do something like this in the future would be clearly fraudulent and the BPs participating would be voted out. As it stands now, I think it shows the BPs do actually care about protecting property and creating time for the arbitration system to exist and respond. To tell a victim of theft or fraud that the provable evidence they provided is irrelevant because a bureaucratic system isn't in place yet is a hard pill to swallow. If the token holders want us to take that hard stance, we can and will, but it's a tough one considering we have tools in place for a short delay while things get organized for a proper ruling.
Edit: Relates to this discussion: Let's Make the EOS Constitution an Actual Contract