The more I think about this, @jerrybanfield, the more I think that I need to unvote you. I understood the reasoning behind why you said you were charging for your service, but the whole idea still bothers me and I'm really uncomfortable with what you did, regardless of an apology. The whole attraction to Steemit for me was that there are no barriers to entry. And while I know that you were also talking about the free option in the video, the more I learn about what witnesses are, I believe that kind of service sets a bad precedent. What's to stop an arms race between witnesses offering tiered access? Because what you were doing was charging for a wallet. I understand that there are other cryptocurrencies that have wallets that are sold, and yes, the community votes on witnesses, but there are only so many people with the physical capacity to operate a witness node. And I understand and appreciate your passion for the network, but no one should ever feel like they can just jump to the head of the line because they can afford to. Steemit is for everyone. If the rich feel like they can just buy their way in like they do everywhere else, it's going to change the entire dynamic and turn this place into the very thing it was created to provide an exit ramp from.
I appreciate your work as a content creator, but I'm not comfortable with you as a witness, or anyone else for that matter who tries in the future to do what you did. Maintaining a vote for you condones that decision and sends the wrong signal to the rest of the community. Sorry. Unvoted.
The more I think about this, @jerrybanfield, the more I think that I need to unvote you. I understood the reasoning behind why you said you were charging for your service, but the whole idea still bothers me and I'm really uncomfortable with what you did, regardless of an apology. The whole attraction to Steemit for me was that there are no barriers to entry. And while I know that you were also talking about the free option in the video, the more I learn about what witnesses are, I believe that kind of service sets a bad precedent. What's to stop an arms race between witnesses offering tiered access? Because what you were doing was charging for a wallet. I understand that there are other cryptocurrencies that have wallets that are sold, and yes, the community votes on witnesses, but there are only so many people with the physical capacity to operate a witness node. And I understand and appreciate your passion for the network, but no one should ever feel like they can just jump to the head of the line because they can afford to. Steemit is for everyone. If the rich feel like they can just buy their way in like they do everywhere else, it's going to change the entire dynamic and turn this place into the very thing it was created to provide an exit ramp from.
I appreciate your work as a content creator, but I'm not comfortable with you as a witness, or anyone else for that matter who tries in the future to do what you did. Maintaining a vote for you condones that decision and sends the wrong signal to the rest of the community. Sorry. Unvoted.