No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!

A few days ago I wrote about SpinVox in the US and the fact that TechCrunch had some free invitations if you were among the first 100 to ask for it. TechCrunch asked for people to leave their e-mail address for the free offer.

Everyone knows that it is dangerous to post an e-mail address on the web but generally it isn’t fatal. Here’s what happened – a competitor, SimulScribe, spammed people who left their address and implied that it was with TechCrunch’s blessing.

Of course, Michael Arrington at TechCrunch apologized: “This was a bold marketing move, to be sure, but a very questionable one. Potential customers will think about how cavalier SimulScribe is with personal information before doing business with them. For our part, I apologize. And we’ll find a better way of giving accounts away in the future.”

I understand your apology, Michael, but I think it was unnecessary. People know who did the real damage. Your credibility is not diminished – in my humble opinion.