When you talk about the spirit of a document or law, you're talking about its intended meaning. Regardless of how he is now employed, he was the one who fashioned the license, and the software to which it applies. His opinion on the matter speaks to the spirit of the documents.
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are dead. We still talk about what they envisioned when they penned the consitution and bill of rights. If such relevance can survive death, it can certainly survive unemployment.
If the current "spirit" of inc is making empty threats to sue people to maintain a monopoly, perhaps that spirit ought to be rethought.
As mentioned by @sneak above, the spirit of the license that Dan added when he created the product is not the same as what he wanted it changed to when he left. The spirit of the original license created by Dan is even more restrictive than what Steemit wants to enforce. That is why we are trying to make the changes based on how @sneak is saying it should be interpreted.