If you want to stop 90% of your botspammers today instead of next week, examine the headers and logs closely on your websocket connection (refusing to allow the connection unless they are originating directly from the site) and 90% of bots are going to shut down immediately. This is effectively euthanizing the strays.
But all anyone has to do is run a node. No one has to connect through steemit itself. It is but one interface to the overarching blockchain.
If you're saying that it's too much effort to interface with that versus what's currently done (and I dunno how current bots are really operating, I assume they are ALL using some interaction at the blockchain level) then that's a different story. But I necessarily believe that bot operators are interfacing with the blockchain and not through Steemit.
Some basic proof would be nice ... but I have nothing to why I believe this to be the case. Happy to see evidence either way.
Ok the part you are referring to was specifically in reference to the concept of these one liner spambots. They are using a particular tutorial. They are like pets whose owners have abandoned them. That tutorial relies on a websocket connection to this site. Close that particular hole, even just checking user agents strings and those strays are euthanized.
People that would go to the trouble of standing up a node etc, are a different class all together and we treat them differently by giving them direct incentives to build better bots.