5 ms·

Uber wouldn't be a thing today if they had followed every laws. Actually very few startup would exist. Very few restaurants as well.

reaperducer 8y ago
You have to wonder how big Facebook would be today if a GDPR-esque law already existed and was common in most countries at the time of its launch.
- syntheticcdo 8y ago
  On the flip side, if Facebook had never existed and never committed the privacy violations it has, would the GDPR exist?
ionised 8y ago
I think Uber not being a thing might have been for the best.
- the_clarence 8y ago
  That's the stupidest thing I've heard today.
rchaud 8y ago
Uber also wouldn't be a thing today if they didn't have billions in VC money buying them lawyers and lobbyists, and developing Greyball to help drivers avoid giving rides to people identified as regulators. Please don't make it seem like Uber's law-breaking is some kind of brave sacrifice protecting mom-and-pop restaurants everywhere.
- the_clarence 8y ago
  I'm not sure if your comment is a response to mine.
stephenr 8y ago
And that's a bad thing? Startups in general seem to benefit just one category of people: investors, and it's usually to the detriment of Joe B. Average who happened to use their product/service.
- dantheman 8y ago
  I don't know anyone who would choose a taxi over lyft or uber even if it was cheaper. Taxis are terrible.
  - stephenr 8y ago
    I don't use taxis a lot. I have had a car and a licence basically since I was 17, but when I have had to use them, they've mostly been fine. Mostly to or from an airport/hotel. One nearly killed me, but I don't judge all other drivers by his lack of sleep/attention/whatever prescription drugs he relies on to stay awake. My issue with uber/etc is that they spend more money, campaigning against laws that would require background checks for their drivers, than it would cost for them to actually do the background checks. If that doesn't raise some questions for you, you may as well just look for vans with "free candy" spray painted on the side, I'm sure they'll be great. "Taxis are terrible" is such a vague blanket statement its almost meaningless.
    - nitrogen 8y ago
      Uber/Lyft are great for getting between two points in an overcrowded city where you would neither be able to park your own car nor hail a taxi. Taxis are terrible because of the lack of convenience and lack of a rider rating system.
      - rescbr 8y ago
        And then you have apps (at least outside the US) for hailing taxis with the same UX for Uber. In some countries the Uber app hails taxis too.
      - stephenr 8y ago
eherot 8y ago
I'm not sure this is right. One of the very clever things Uber did was take advantage of a loophole in the hackney laws that allowed drivers to operate for hire without taxi medallions as long as they did not perform street hails. From the point of view of taxi operators who had long relied on this system to protect them from meaningful competition, this was a flouting of the intent of the law, if not the actual language of the law itself. They did not however, as far as I know, actually break the law.
- bluGill 8y ago
  Uber broke limousine chauffeur laws, not taxi laws. It varies from state to state, but generally you need a chauffeur license to pick someone up for hire. From what I understand there is generally no limit to how many might drive around but they are not allowed look for customers, the customer must find them. The taxi industry was hurt the most, but it wasn't taxi laws that were broken it was chauffeur laws.
- BillinghamJ 8y ago
  What? In the UK, private hire licensing is & always was a normal thing and the way Uber uses it is entirely normal too. It's not a loophole. They weren't even the first to allow booking without phoning.
  - the_clarence 8y ago
    Uber was banned in the UK. And they keep appealing. They're still in service. It's hilarious.
    - BillinghamJ 8y ago
      Your comment seems to lack much in the way of fact. They weren't banned in the UK. Or London. Their application for a license renewal was temporarily denied in London. They appealed, once. They worked with TfL to resolve their concerns and were granted a new license - though slightly shorter term than normal. They're not entirely off the hook and will need to continue to show that they're behaving appropriately, but they're absolutely fine to operate now and that is not likely to change any time soon.
UncleMeat 8y ago
Just remember this the next time people say that Zuckerberg should go to jail or that the US needs something like GDPR. In my observation, startups aren't just breaking unjust laws.

reaperducer 8y ago

You have to wonder how big Facebook would be today if a GDPR-esque law already existed and was common in most countries at the time of its launch.

syntheticcdo 8y ago
On the flip side, if Facebook had never existed and never committed the privacy violations it has, would the GDPR exist?

ionised 8y ago

I think Uber not being a thing might have been for the best.

the_clarence 8y ago
That's the stupidest thing I've heard today.

rchaud 8y ago

Uber also wouldn't be a thing today if they didn't have billions in VC money buying them lawyers and lobbyists, and developing Greyball to help drivers avoid giving rides to people identified as regulators. Please don't make it seem like Uber's law-breaking is some kind of brave sacrifice protecting mom-and-pop restaurants everywhere.

the_clarence 8y ago
I'm not sure if your comment is a response to mine.

stephenr 8y ago

And that's a bad thing? Startups in general seem to benefit just one category of people: investors, and it's usually to the detriment of Joe B. Average who happened to use their product/service.

dantheman 8y ago
I don't know anyone who would choose a taxi over lyft or uber even if it was cheaper. Taxis are terrible.
- stephenr 8y ago
  I don't use taxis a lot. I have had a car and a licence basically since I was 17, but when I have had to use them, they've mostly been fine. Mostly to or from an airport/hotel. One nearly killed me, but I don't judge all other drivers by his lack of sleep/attention/whatever prescription drugs he relies on to stay awake. My issue with uber/etc is that they spend more money, campaigning against laws that would require background checks for their drivers, than it would cost for them to actually do the background checks. If that doesn't raise some questions for you, you may as well just look for vans with "free candy" spray painted on the side, I'm sure they'll be great. "Taxis are terrible" is such a vague blanket statement its almost meaningless.
  - nitrogen 8y ago
    Uber/Lyft are great for getting between two points in an overcrowded city where you would neither be able to park your own car nor hail a taxi. Taxis are terrible because of the lack of convenience and lack of a rider rating system.
    - rescbr 8y ago
      And then you have apps (at least outside the US) for hailing taxis with the same UX for Uber. In some countries the Uber app hails taxis too.
    - stephenr 8y ago

eherot 8y ago

I'm not sure this is right. One of the very clever things Uber did was take advantage of a loophole in the hackney laws that allowed drivers to operate for hire without taxi medallions as long as they did not perform street hails. From the point of view of taxi operators who had long relied on this system to protect them from meaningful competition, this was a flouting of the intent of the law, if not the actual language of the law itself. They did not however, as far as I know, actually break the law.

bluGill 8y ago
Uber broke limousine chauffeur laws, not taxi laws. It varies from state to state, but generally you need a chauffeur license to pick someone up for hire. From what I understand there is generally no limit to how many might drive around but they are not allowed look for customers, the customer must find them. The taxi industry was hurt the most, but it wasn't taxi laws that were broken it was chauffeur laws.
BillinghamJ 8y ago
What? In the UK, private hire licensing is & always was a normal thing and the way Uber uses it is entirely normal too. It's not a loophole. They weren't even the first to allow booking without phoning.
- the_clarence 8y ago
  Uber was banned in the UK. And they keep appealing. They're still in service. It's hilarious.
  - BillinghamJ 8y ago
    Your comment seems to lack much in the way of fact. They weren't banned in the UK. Or London. Their application for a license renewal was temporarily denied in London. They appealed, once. They worked with TfL to resolve their concerns and were granted a new license - though slightly shorter term than normal. They're not entirely off the hook and will need to continue to show that they're behaving appropriately, but they're absolutely fine to operate now and that is not likely to change any time soon.

UncleMeat 8y ago

Just remember this the next time people say that Zuckerberg should go to jail or that the US needs something like GDPR. In my observation, startups aren't just breaking unjust laws.