The purchased stake was under certain conditions. Be it 'social contract', be it 'intentions', it was never supposed to be sold. Therefore any deal on it might actually be considered illegitimate.

It's not just 'someone's' or 'anyone's' stake we are talking about here, it's very specifically the ninja-mined stake that has always been subject of much debate on- and offsteem. And also one of the biggest reasons for the bitcoin- and rest of crypto community at large to consider Steem a scam.

The conditions on this specific part of stake have now simply been formalized to code in a temporary soft fork.

Then again, I fully agree with you that disabling stake is a very big deal. People will interpret it and will judge it in various ways, drawing different conclusions. Also, not engaging with the community about these things but executing them without any warning will also be interpreted and judged in various ways.

At the very least I find it highly interesting and I find myself engaged with the drama. I'm following closely.