Otherwise, Steem is just a place where free-loaders can get some STEEM & SBD posting content without risk...

That's what Steem originally was. That's what it is now. And bid bots make it possible for staked and non-staked users alike to increase their risk-free liquid rewards. We don't need bid bots and their owners to "protect" any investments/investors here. In fact, they are one of the largest contributors of negative value to the platform, thanks to the largest contributors: STINC and our past top-20 witnesses that approved the delegation, linear rewards curve, and 10-vote daily target protocols, which paved the way for the anti-social and cannibalistic economic behavior we see today.