TechCrunch Responds to Lawsuit…Yay or Nay?

October 8, 2008 at 5:14 pm · Filed under Social Media and tagged: Apple, audience, business communication, Earthcomber, Facebook, Jim Brady, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Arrington, Steve Jobs, TechCrunch, TechCrunch lawsuit

Considering our recent discussions of instances where professionals respond to the public through social media (ie: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Steve Jobs, etc.), I found this particular story intriguing.

TechCrunch announced this afternoon that it was being sued by Earthcomber, a service that helps you find the local things and places you love. According to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, this lawsuit is completely unjustified and may even have resulted from a simple miscommunication between himself and Earthcomber president, Jim Brady. 

What caught my attention, however, is how Arrington handled the situation, as well as TechCrunch readers. After reading the title “Earthcomber Sues TechCrunch Out of Spite, Pisses Me Off Personally” one can continue to read and find several other passionate phrases such as “I’m not going to go into a lot of detail on the specifics of the patent claims, other than that they are absurd, since our lawyers have asked me not to,” “I’ve asked our attorneys to spend whatever it takes to kill this lawsuit, and to find a way to counter sue this guy into the stone age,” and finally “I would rather run TechCrunch into the ground and go out of business than let this guy win.” 

As a reader of TechCrunch myself, I understand Arrington’s viewpoints and completely agree with his justifications. However, I wonder if this response is a positive use of communication with an audience or a negative one. Although there is a need to address the lawsuit itself, did Arrington cross the line with his anger towards Brady? Or does it simply not matter for a business that has a large number of loyal followers?

By scrolling down to the reader comments, you will find a great deal of support for Arrington’s statements which illustrates the number of like-minded individuals behind TechCrunch. Is this example then void of what we consider acceptable business behavior, or is Arrington correct in his public rant against Earthcomber?

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