Yes, Until now, there was no way to prevent this type of behavior, but now i feel that time has come for Steemit Inc., to make some changes and prevent this kind of abuse. Nowdays i can notice considerable amount of changes and testing happening on the Steem Blockchain, the point is that now we need to have an extra layer of safety on Steemit and that makes the platform even better & secure.
I don't believe in "rules" that restrict all users because of a few bad actors, and I don't think regulation from a centralized authority is a long term answer.
This community has identified a problem.
Now, it's up to the free market to come up with a solution!