SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Sorry Amazon: Philadelphia bans cashless stores
This week, Philadelphia's mayor signed a bill that would ban cashless retail stores, according to The Morning Call. The move makes Philadelphia the first major city to require that brick-and-mortar retail stores accept cash. Besides Philadelphia, Massachusetts has required that retailers accept cash since 1978, according to CBS.
The law takes effect July 1, and it will not apply to stores like Costco that require a membership, nor will it apply to parking garages or lots, or to hotels or rental car companies that require a credit or debit card as security for future charges, according to the Wall Street Journal. Retailers caught refusing cash can be fined up to $2,000.
Amazon, whose new Amazon Go stores are cashless and queue-less, reportedly pushed back against the new law, asking for an exemption. According to the WSJ, Philadelphia lawmakers said that Amazon could work around the law under the exemption for stores that require a membership to shop there, but Amazon told the city that a Prime membership is not required to shop at Amazon Go stores, so its options are limited.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by fyngyrz on Tuesday March 12 2019, @02:50PM
Even if that is legally the case (here in the US, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't), it definitely should never be so.
The bottom line is that if you want to do business within society, your business should be open to all of society within bounds that everyone can meet — wearing at least a minimum of clothing, for instance. Otherwise the door is open for not-very-sub rosa classing by bad actors. "Oh, I won't bake a cake for a religious / atheist person"; "Oh, she went to jail once, not serving her"; "Oh, we don't serve people in wheelchairs"; "Oh, we don't serve Republicans"; etc., etc., ad infinitum.
We know this happens. That's why the law already has some stupid garbage about "protected classes" such as blacks, gays, etc., where instead it should just protect everyone beyond the very most basic social constraints that are achievable by anyone. I'm not even all that convinced of those, frankly.
Your "freedom not to sell a person stuff" is an open door to abuse, a door that people are known to be willing to walk right the hell through. Even if you in particular might not misuse it, there are a huge number who will. Better to shut that door entirely, and keep it shut.
--
No one said the joke would be funny.