The PDF you wrote in conjunction with Jerry Britto, if I've interpreted it correctly, seems to imply that a DCO would fail the Howey test because of the power you give to "members" in voting decisions, therefore the investment isn't reliant on the sole efforts of a third party. I'm struggling to understand how this is any different to a common stockholder?
It's partially a matter of rights, partially a matter of technology. The reality is that 'common stock' in a classic context is secured via the existing legal system instead of the blockchain, which means that any sort of voting needs to be run through lawyers. This makes it extremely expensive to run a stock holder vote, etc., which ultimately leads to less involvement from stockholders. Also, as I'm sure you know you only have the possibility of having public stock holders once you are on a public market (i.e. post-IPO)
So the difference may not be so much a difference in intent, but a difference in result due to better technology. New technology allows better and more granular control from more participants.