well, the buy and strip strat has been around a long time, although thier is s difference here
in general, a country only sells based on the stripping value. not what kind of investment goes into it. if you take a C3, add pop, weapons, ammo, generic assets. take care in the type of corps you build. create garrisons, and upgrade them... then you sell the country, you wont really get a fraction of its worth. you'll get less than the stripping value. and john henry isn't the only culprit.
the difference with john henry, is that it was/is his main strat in sc. i mean, many players buy and strip countries. with john henry, is seemed to be his main thing. but the bad part, is he'd not only brag about the money he made. but would have, at best, no respect for the builder of the country. and would brag about burning other players countries to the ground...
which is also his mistake, in all this. he might or might not have gotten away with trying to cheat slade. if Tom hadn't stepped in, he'd have damaged slade reputation, at the very least. But when john henry's "baby," showed up, owned by another player... it certainly is a clue waving a bright red flag.
so, honestly, continuing to keep boycotts on this country, over and over, until it disappears, will be more than a minor punishment. and fitting