That is quite the issue! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
I think it's part of growing pains though. Those bots and bot-like voters' relative power will diminish over time and the negative effects of that strategy will be dwarfed by the rest of the internet voting for content (whether that content is on Steemit.com or any other front-end that plugs into the Steem Blockchain)

Multiple this by the fact that Steem's market cap will most likely be way higher by the time there are millions of users and hundreds of sites using Steem. This will convince a bunch of whales to sell some of that big stake.
Growing pains! (:
When in doubt? Downvote! d: