the fact that OpenCoin is holding back so many XRP's (fact) represents a conflict of interest.
Bitcoin has the same issue (or non-issue depending on your point of view). More than half of the BTC that will ever exist is in the hands of much less than half of the population. And of that half the lion's share is in the hands of early adopters. And of that amount most is in Satoshi's hands.
Again, this is not a good comparison. It is true that most bit coins are in the hands of early adopters, but they have nowhere near the same power to affect the value of each Bitcoin as OpenCoin has with Ripple. The can try to use their wealth to impact market forces, but they are in in full control of a protocol that, as of this moment, is closed and centralized.