i don't know. DOes it violate the 'spirit' of steems license? Dan made the thing, and he wants it out. It that our collective 'spirit' -- telling other people what theyre allowed to run on their own computer, and threatening to take them to court if they fail to comply?
They would be making a decision to voilate the letter of steems license -- which is a restriction in place solely to attempt to maintain a monopoly. A restriction that every other coin in the world survives without. but the spirit? i dont know
Dan is no longer working for Steemit, so his views on the spirit of the license are not relevant to what Steemit's position now is.
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.