5
ripple server code is still private and beta.
There is no legality preventing Open Coin to print more XRP now as it is a private company and the network is not at a stage where it is wide scale distributed like bitcoin for consensus process to have any meaning in this aspect.
9
Doing so would subject OpenCoin to lawsuits due to promissory estoppel. OpenCoin's statement that they will not do so is effectively a warranty. And, of course, it would be a completely self-destructive thing for them to do.
(I am an employee of OpenCoin, speaking only for myself.)
I agree with David in that there are incentives for OpenCoin not to break its promise but OpenCoin can still technically do whatever it wants. Or, more realistically, if OpenCoin's servers get hacked, then what prevents the hackers from printing more XRP? – reubano – 2013-06-04T12:19:23.633
2@reubano: If only our servers need to be compromised to make the attack work, then only our servers need to be changed to undo it. So if the system is vulnerable to this attack, it's also easy to fix. As the network becomes more distributed, this becomes harder to fix, but also harder to accomplish. – David Schwartz – 2013-06-07T07:59:34.067