Some of our community members have expressed concerns that Bitcoin Core may be modified to prevent Counterparty from working in future versions down the track.
Is this a genuine concern of just FUD?
That is FUD. There are many ways to store Counterparty data in the blockchain. It's not leaving any time soon, no worries. Everything is stored in the blockchain, and cannot be changed or manipulated without manipulating the blockchain itself.
That's right. It's pretty much impossible to prevent Counterparty from using Bitcoin, because of the many ways in which Counterparty can store data in the blockchain.