If this is so, then Scribd's PR person really needs to write TechCrunch every fifteen minutes until the site puts up a bigger correction. Just marking up the word "Scribd" in the story with a strikethru is nowhere near enough. A lot of readers might miss that detail. Others, like me, will see it but have no idea why it's there. And even if you recognize that they've been crossed out, just mentioning Scribd in this context is to associate them with something bad. As it stands, the article is the textual equivalent of a politician saying "Many public figures have fatal illnesses, but I would never accuse my opponent of having Lou Gehrig's Disease."

The fact that the word "Scribd" even appeared in that story calls for the removal of their name from the main story and the addition of a full blown, fall-on-our-sword, "We screwed up and didn't check our facts; Scribd has nothing to do with this story; we regret the error" apology at the end. This is nothing to be sly about.