I second that. What scares me the most is that no one from AirBnB came on that thread to strongly deny this article. And you know they read HN a lot and post often.
I'm sure that their attorneys have let them know that acknowledging that they sent out spam would expose them to massive damages under the CAN-SPAM laws. So AirBnB can't really acknowledge what they did and try and move on... financially, it would be ruinous for them. They are probably hoping that the controversy will blow over, until the statute of limitations expires at which point they can apologize and blame the previous regime.
Since this has been on the front page of HN long enough, I expect more in-depth coverage from TechCrunh really soon. That's usually how it works. That could get the ball rolling.
(I know TC has its critics, but they are exactly what's needed for this kind of story)
