I tried to find that Shodan post. I thought it would be a good exercise for the new search function. Holy crap, has anyone in SD history been pitted more than him? I found 32 Pit threads with Shodan in the title.
All I managed to find was this 2008 post where he admits to trolling.
I’m my view, that guy, who IIRC was a staunch conservative, got a ton of leeway.