At some point regulators will come looking again, the more BitShares grows the more likely. Bittrex is just the first who needs a legal opinion. What's the alternative? Just waiting and hoping no one will notice BitShares?
It's like walking up to a lion's den, and asking the lion "I'd kind of like to ask you whether or not I'm the type of thing you are interested in eating"
Why pester the lion when he has the whole jungle to take care of, which is keeping him busy already. Did you want to be the next thing he pounces on?
Some people might say "What if the lion isn't interested in eating you? Isn't that good?"
Some people might say "If they lion says yes, and starts chasing us, we can run away or find ways to defend ourself"... That's fine to try that but if you're unlucky you'll probably wonder why you went and spoke to a lion in the first place.
I think the proposal should be changed.
1. There is no contact made to SEC or any intention to contact them
2. There is NO LETTER sent to any government agency
3. Legal Advice is sought, and the details are kept among the Bitshares foundation members. They could be the ones to decide what to do with that information.
"Client-lawyer" privilege is where clients may discuss things with their lawyers and their legal strategies privately. You can't do that in a decentralized environment without revealing your legal poker hand. Which is a guaranteed losing situation for the client, if you openly disseminate where you lack ground to everyone, and anyone, including your adversary.
Now, I think specific tokens would be more apt to be securities than the platform itself. But if you were to squeeze government agencies, it's too easy for them to publish a response letter and say "yes, we believe BTS is a type of security".... (even if they don't have to prove anything in court). They could cherry pick answers from "this case" and that "case" that may scare you and the public. (Even after you got your day in court many months later). By this time though, it's too late. You've already created a domino effect of FUD by arguing with the SEC in the first place.
I think the likelihood of this handled incorrectly are much more damaging to bitshares than the possible benefit you are looking for...
So, no, I won't insta-vote this legal proposal as it is written in... I wish I could, but I cannot support it.