6 ms·

Disruption is great. Disruption means doing something else is doing, but much better. AirBNB -- in this context -- isn't being disruptive to the hotel industry

Disruption is great. Disruption means doing something else is doing, but much better. AirBNB -- in this context -- isn't being disruptive to the hotel industry. They're doing the same thing, but _worse_. Where legal hotels have consumer protections (like definitely not having lead paint and definitely sufficient fire escapes), AirBNB... doesn't. Where hotels (and B&Bs, etc.) follow zoning rules to make sure they're good neighbors, AirBNB... doesn't. Now, these rules don't work all the time. They probably can be improved. But don't act like they're merely regulatory capture. That's an aspect, but consumer protections are real. AirBNB isn't doing the same thing better, but doing a different thing worse.

danielharan 13y ago
Cry me a river. There are much more comprehensive reviews on Airbnb than you'll get for most hotels. This is regulatory capture under the guise of consumer protection; nothing more.
- Spooky23 13y ago
  Not really, it's about a company choosing to ignore the law. Craigslist did the same thing for years with respect to advertising for "erotic services". If the company's strategy for this issue is to declare that "users must be aware of local regulation" while providing thousands of listings in heavily regulated cities like New York City, they're probably going to hit some speedbumps.
  - miguelrochefort 13y ago
    Do you seriously think it's the responsibility of the service provider to make sure its users don't engage in any potentially illegal activities? These services are simply glorified communication tools, and limiting what people can communicate with them is limiting free speech.
    - crdoconnor 13y ago
      >Do you seriously think it's the responsibility of the service provider to make sure its users don't engage in any potentially illegal activities? If the illegal activity is "using their system as it was intended" then they have a degree of responsibility, yes. They should at the very least provide a warning to users in quebec that they need to pay the $250 or they will be in violation of the law by using the airbnb website. This does not seem like a particularly onerous thing to implement (10 lines of code?), either, and any judge reviewing a case against them would likely bear this in mind. If they were small and did not have many hosts in quebec I doubt it would be an issue. They are clearly not any more, however.
      - dantheman 13y ago
        10 lines of code for every city, county, state, etc? And keeping it up to date will be easy too right?
        crdoconnor 13y ago
        >10 lines of code for every city, county, state, etc? And keeping it up to date will be easy too right? For every city, country and state that has special rules about renting, yes. If they really don't want to participate in a particular market, they can let their competitors serve it instead. And no, it's not especially difficult.
    - Nursie 13y ago
      So the Silk Road is doing nothing illegal in your mind?
      - noarchy 13y ago
        What is illegal is objectively-defined by looking at the law. That doesn't mean that you agree with said laws, or mind them being ignored. This is where things like civil disobedience come into play, though I am not going to make such an argument for AirBnb because it isn't really my fight. It may be for others, though.

danielharan 13y ago

Cry me a river. There are much more comprehensive reviews on Airbnb than you'll get for most hotels. This is regulatory capture under the guise of consumer protection; nothing more.

Spooky23 13y ago
Not really, it's about a company choosing to ignore the law. Craigslist did the same thing for years with respect to advertising for "erotic services". If the company's strategy for this issue is to declare that "users must be aware of local regulation" while providing thousands of listings in heavily regulated cities like New York City, they're probably going to hit some speedbumps.
- miguelrochefort 13y ago
  Do you seriously think it's the responsibility of the service provider to make sure its users don't engage in any potentially illegal activities? These services are simply glorified communication tools, and limiting what people can communicate with them is limiting free speech.
  - crdoconnor 13y ago
    >Do you seriously think it's the responsibility of the service provider to make sure its users don't engage in any potentially illegal activities? If the illegal activity is "using their system as it was intended" then they have a degree of responsibility, yes. They should at the very least provide a warning to users in quebec that they need to pay the $250 or they will be in violation of the law by using the airbnb website. This does not seem like a particularly onerous thing to implement (10 lines of code?), either, and any judge reviewing a case against them would likely bear this in mind. If they were small and did not have many hosts in quebec I doubt it would be an issue. They are clearly not any more, however.
    - dantheman 13y ago
      10 lines of code for every city, county, state, etc? And keeping it up to date will be easy too right?
      - crdoconnor 13y ago
        >10 lines of code for every city, county, state, etc? And keeping it up to date will be easy too right? For every city, country and state that has special rules about renting, yes. If they really don't want to participate in a particular market, they can let their competitors serve it instead. And no, it's not especially difficult.
  - Nursie 13y ago
    So the Silk Road is doing nothing illegal in your mind?
    - noarchy 13y ago
      What is illegal is objectively-defined by looking at the law. That doesn't mean that you agree with said laws, or mind them being ignored. This is where things like civil disobedience come into play, though I am not going to make such an argument for AirBnb because it isn't really my fight. It may be for others, though.