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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) Declares Uber a Transport Service

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday December 20 2017, @05:54PM   Printer-friendly
from the if-it-walks-like-a-duck dept.

canopic jug writes:

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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  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday December 20 2017, @07:41PM (1 child)

    by frojack (1554) on Wednesday December 20 2017, @07:41PM (#612477) Journal

    There are apps like that - sometimes very localized. http://instantcab.com/ [instantcab.com]

    But I have to ask,
    How were cabs dispatched before radio?
    Before telephones?

    They roamed the the streets waiting to be hailed. You sent your butler out to hail one.
    And if they didn't roam your neighborhood, you probably couldn't afford them anyway.

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  • (Score: 2) by meustrus on Wednesday December 20 2017, @08:10PM

    by meustrus (4961) on Wednesday December 20 2017, @08:10PM (#612500)

    And if they didn't roam your neighborhood, you probably couldn't afford them anyway.

    Only in the big cities. In smaller locations, there isn't enough demand to have any kind of consistent cab presence anywhere. A few cabs will serve a small city or suburb, relying on poorly-advertised phone numbers or other local ride-hailing services.

    In the world of Uber and Lyft, most of these smaller players have moved their business into one of the apps instead. They benefit from national brand recognition much like the local Dairy Queen does.

    Maybe the solution then is for ride-hailing apps to act as franchisers, enforcing certain brand requirements in exchange for the platform. Presumably there already exists a good-enough legal framework to prevent the McDonalds's of the world from making their franchise agreements as exploitative as Uber's.

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