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After a period of consideration, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has decided that Uber is a transport service, just like any other taxi company. There is lot to say about Uber's use of untrained, non-professional drivers and other abusive practices.
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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) Declares Uber a Transport Service
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This is clearly another case of too many mad scientists, and not enough
hunchbacks.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Wednesday December 20 2017, @07:33PM (3 children)
Right, the whole reason uber (etc) exist is because of laws set up long ago to force central dispatch of cabs. And doing it On A Computer was specifically outlawed in many places.
Had the cab companies jumped up and adopted computerized dispatch with all the features (rejecting some drivers, rejecting some passengers, driver/passenger pictures, payments and tipping, - all the things uber and lyft apps offer) there would never have been Uber or Lyft.
Instead taxi companies actively lobbied against those things, got them prohibited in regulations. (And hoped to protect their fiefdom and high fares in the process).
Cities were interested in building in artificial scarcity, so they could charge a lot for a medallion, collect taxes, etc, and protection of citizens was way way down on the list.
Cab companies were interested in making sure they own the business, keep drivers working on near starvation wages, and limiting competition.
As a result the single best thing to come along in the history of the Taxi industry ended up being a lightning rod.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Wednesday December 20 2017, @08:13PM
Citation needed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 21 2017, @05:32AM (1 child)
No. Circumventing existing laws does not grant them immunity. Quit trying to apply your american point of view to european point of view.
(Score: 3, Informative) by kazzie on Thursday December 21 2017, @12:32PM
Following up on that, in the UK, there are two legal categories for "taxis". Cars that can park in taxi ranks to wait for passing custom, or be flagged down by anyone on the street, are officially known as Taxicabs or Hackney Carriages. Another variety is the Minicab or Private Hire Vehicle, which has to be pre-booked (this could be in the form of a phone call to the firm's booking office, or even the driver's mobile phone). Both categories are licensed by the local authorities (county councils).
Uber's activities in the UK are closer to Private Hire than Hackney Carriages, but they've generally claimed that they were neither.