MPR Authored

Jack Dorsey Reveals Tweeting Irrelevant with Square

Posted on May 1, 2011 at 11:33 AM

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey built his original company with toothpaste makers in mind. He might even say, “Thanks to Twitter, people in Istanbul can finally get tips on what makes the smiles in Shanghai so white. Tips on scrubbing those molars are transmitted in real time from Rio de Janeiro to Moscow!”

That’s good news for companies like Colgate, but for companies involved in technology, Dorsey reveals that Twitter is basically useless. “No one is following your company’s mundane tweets. No one cares if the Square card reader got a thumbs up from a business owner in Maine.” Of course he hasn’t actually said this in words, but his actions speak volumes.

Dorsey is also the founder and CEO of Square (https://squareup.com/), a credit/debit card reader that can plug right into an iPhone, iPad, or Android. We follow them on Twitter to keep an eye on news that might be worth sharing. But the only news, is no news. What’s up with that?

We compared Square’s tweets to three POS hardware companies, Verifone, Ingenico, and Magtek. We threw in Colgate for good measure.

Square, led by Twitter’s Dorsey, ranks last among peers in average monthly tweet volume.  As Square seeks a permanent place for itself in the electronic payments world, it has undertaken a massive public relations campaign. None of which includes tweeting. Thank you Mr. Dorsey for revealing what most of the world already suspected, that commercial tweeting is useless.

Verifone just ate a bologna sandwich #yum

Ingenico just donated a credit card machine to a school in Sudan #charity

Magtek was mentioned in a newspaper in Andorra #werule

Colgate just came out with purple toothpaste #purple

Square just stole everyone’s customers while our competitors were tweeting about bologna #winning

Follow:

http://twitter.com/#!/square

http://twitter.com/#!/VeriFone

http://twitter.com/#!/ingenico

http://twitter.com/#!/MagTek

http://twitter.com/#!/ColgateSmile

– deBanked

www.merchantprocessingresource.com

Sony Unlikely to Face Criminal Negligence Charges in Breach

In light of Sony’s data breach, many people are making the case that their weak security constitutes criminal negligence. It may be appropriate considering Sony is an electronics company who should be held to a higher standard. Had they been an international supplier of lumber, we might be willing to give them more leeway. But let us not forget that Sony is the victim here. If a man walks into a bad neighborhood holding handfuls of cash and is robbed, it may very well be his own fault, but to argue his negligence was downright criminal will be a tough sell.

Sony is even less likely to be pursued criminally considering it’s already difficult enough to even convict perpetrators these days. Examine the financial crisis of 2008 and you’ll quickly realize that misdeeds were rarely handled outside of civil court. A shining example is the U.S. v. Deutsche Bank in a recent mortgage fraud case. In an excerpt about it by Fox:

by choosing to bring a civil case, instead of a criminal one, the feds have assured that more alleged fraud on Wall Street during the housing bubble will be met with fines rather than more serious sanctions. The reasons for the reluctance to charge Deutsche Bank or its employees with criminal charges are diverse, but likely come down to the higher burden of proof and collateral damage that go hand-in-hand with criminal charges. “Firms can do significant damage to themselves, to taxpayers and their customers without committing crimes. Negligence, recklessness and stupidity can go a long way,” said Dan Richman, a law professor at Columbia.

 You hear that Sony? Stupidity isn’t criminal, even though many would like it to be. This doesn’t mean they’re off the hook completely since they are already liable for over $2 Billion as a result of customers (as calculated by the Ponemon Institute) canceling their current credit cards and having new ones issued. If card numbers have in fact been stolen, customers have no choice but to take this precaution at Sony’s expense.

Sony will have their day in court but no one will be going to jail…

– deBanked

https://debanked.com

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