The ruling (PDF), issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union this morning, will increase pressure on the not-a-taxi biz, and follows a decision that saw its services classed as transport, not digital.
The case relates to charges French authorities want to bring against UberPop - a ride-sharing service that links non-professional, unlicensed drivers with people in need of a lift - and whether it is an information society service. Uber France is trying to slip out of the regulatory net by arguing it is an information society service, which would mean it fell under rules set out in an EU directive on technical standards and regulations. This directive (PDF) stated that member states have to tell the European Commission about any draft rules or legislation that set out technical regulations of information services or products - the idea being to allow Brussels to ensure national laws comply with digital single market rules.
The French authorities didn’t do this for the criminal legislation they are trying to use to charge Uber, and so, as the ECJ noted in its judgement “Uber France infers from this that it cannot therefore be prosecuted on the charges”.
However, the ECJ was not persuaded. It reminded Uber it had last year ruled that the UberPop service offered in Spain was a transport service - not a digital one. The two countries’ services, in the court's view, are “essentially identical”.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Thursday April 12 2018, @06:42PM (1 child)
Yes to the regualtion bit, and yes to taxation like any other business (not "the fuck" bit though).
People who give me a lift for free are people I already know. In fact I would refuse a lift from a couple of them because they are bad drivers. With a taxi driver I only have their certification to rely on.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday April 12 2018, @10:55PM
So it's perfectly okay for the friends you wouldn't trust to drive you to be on the road with their regular old driver's license but adding money into the equation suddenly makes them a much more dangerous person?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.