@fourfourfun the regulations are most applicable to people running entire businesses to transact money which is not obvious in the reply. An individual cashing out a little bit in earnings is unlikely to have any issues while someone buying and selling millions of dollars of Steem without compliance with the law is likely to run into the same problems as localbitcoins.
We respect users most by starting with a foundation of trust and assisting with education. Our current exchanges are based on the assumption users cannot be trusted which is why escrows and heavy restrictions are in place. People that are trusted are free to do what they please because there is no fear of what will be done. Our exchange will educate people on best practices and laws. When users abuse this trust, legal repercussions may occur.