The fact is, when it first happened @ned told us that the coins were pre-mined in order to stay within US federal regulations regarding setting up a company and its assets. They didn't want to do an ICO which at the time were under a lot of federal scrutiny.

The net result of course is the same, however the key point is, that the Steem is a registered company asset, and trying to prevent someone who paid for it access, will no doubt be illegal.

Cg