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I am not a lawyer, and have absolutely no meaningful opinion on the merits of this lawsuit. However, Uber has absolutely not helped their case by having execut

by Fede_V 12y ago

I am not a lawyer, and have absolutely no meaningful opinion on the merits of this lawsuit. However, Uber has absolutely not helped their case by having executives act like frat bros. As much as we'd like to think that the law and public opinion are separate, in reality, I think that if Uber had tried to be a better 'public citizen' they probably wouldn't be facing so much backlash. That essay by Paul Graham about 'mean people' is looking downright prophetic right about now.

darkiniaha 12y ago
I'm genuinely curious about this witch hunt against Uber. Is this Social Justice Warriors vs Uber? Or just invested like Peter Thiel from Lyft doing a coordinated attack against Uber?
no_future 12y ago
>That essay by Paul Graham about 'mean people' is looking downright prophetic right about now. None of this crap changes the fact that Uber is a massively successful service and is beloved by consumers. Big companies get sued all the time. Apple(and just about every other company) manufacture the products people love in China where the workers are under horrible conditions, arguably ethically worse than anything Uber has ever done. So no, mean people don't fail any more than any other kind of person does. People just love to hate them.
flexie 12y ago
Yeah. Let's see how it plays out :-) I remember how the music industry teamed up with politicians, and used police and courts to go after Napster and KaZaA. The founders of those companies were considered thugs by the establishment back then - thieves even. Later, one of the Napster guys made money on Facebook and the KaZaA duo made money on Skype. Now they are all considered superhero entrepreneurs. Napster and KaZaA didn't make much money but the next generation downloading and streaming apps such as iTunes, Spotify etc. did and personally I haven't bought a CD for years. Maybe Uber will go down in lawsuits and prohibitions, maybe not, but the taxi industry has already been disrupted and if Uber doesn't defeat the taxis, other companies will. People have been shown much more comfortable and cheaper ways of getting a ride. Just like I don't want to bother paying $20 going to the mall to buy 11 crappy songs on a disc in order to get that one song that I want to listen to, taxi riders don't want to bother with the expensive taxi tsars of their hometown. Personally, I don't care if Uber or another nicer or more legal alternative wins. As long as the taxi companies lose.
- jamespo 12y ago
  So thanks to Spotify and iTunes obeying the rules they made money and the founders of the companies that didn't succeeded in a completely different market?
  - flexie 12y ago
    More or less. But would iTunes, Spotify, Netflix etc. have have had a ready market without Napster, KazaA, Pirate Bay and other file sharing sites making people used to getting music and movies online?
    - wcummings 12y ago
      And more importantly, would old media have felt the same pressure to license their content to these new services w/o the spectre of file sharing?
- Shivetya 12y ago
  I am not all that keen on punishing the taxi companies, I am more keen of obtaining sane regulation of industries such that we quit locking out competitors or innovation. Far too much commerce resides behind the walled garden of regulation, the worst being alcohol and tobacco; regardless how you feel about those the protection afforded by regulation and government enforcers is frightening. Heck, if you want to see real silly, go read the horror stories in some states about enforcement on hair salons; as in if your not connected they will fine you to oblivion for any infraction they can find.
- mironathetin 12y ago
  "Personally, I don't care if Uber or another nicer or more legal alternative wins. As long as the taxi companies lose." Agreed. In my home town taxis break every rule that you can imagine in the name of their precious business. I've seen them ignoring priorities, bicycles, pedestrians, speed limits, I've seen taxis using walkways and bike lanes to avoid red lights. Indicating the direction is out of fashion since long. My last taxis ride to the airport was with 180 km/h on a street with 100 km/h limit while the driver was flipping through a folder on his dashboard in order to organize - whatever - with his company. Not to speak about the noise of taxis dashing through the town at 3 in the morning. Yes, I don't like what I read about uber, but alternatives for taxis are overdue.

by Fede_V 12y ago

darkiniaha 12y ago

I'm genuinely curious about this witch hunt against Uber. Is this Social Justice Warriors vs Uber? Or just invested like Peter Thiel from Lyft doing a coordinated attack against Uber?

no_future 12y ago

>That essay by Paul Graham about 'mean people' is looking downright prophetic right about now. None of this crap changes the fact that Uber is a massively successful service and is beloved by consumers. Big companies get sued all the time. Apple(and just about every other company) manufacture the products people love in China where the workers are under horrible conditions, arguably ethically worse than anything Uber has ever done. So no, mean people don't fail any more than any other kind of person does. People just love to hate them.

flexie 12y ago

Yeah. Let's see how it plays out :-) I remember how the music industry teamed up with politicians, and used police and courts to go after Napster and KaZaA. The founders of those companies were considered thugs by the establishment back then - thieves even. Later, one of the Napster guys made money on Facebook and the KaZaA duo made money on Skype. Now they are all considered superhero entrepreneurs. Napster and KaZaA didn't make much money but the next generation downloading and streaming apps such as iTunes, Spotify etc. did and personally I haven't bought a CD for years. Maybe Uber will go down in lawsuits and prohibitions, maybe not, but the taxi industry has already been disrupted and if Uber doesn't defeat the taxis, other companies will. People have been shown much more comfortable and cheaper ways of getting a ride. Just like I don't want to bother paying $20 going to the mall to buy 11 crappy songs on a disc in order to get that one song that I want to listen to, taxi riders don't want to bother with the expensive taxi tsars of their hometown. Personally, I don't care if Uber or another nicer or more legal alternative wins. As long as the taxi companies lose.

jamespo 12y ago
So thanks to Spotify and iTunes obeying the rules they made money and the founders of the companies that didn't succeeded in a completely different market?
- flexie 12y ago
  More or less. But would iTunes, Spotify, Netflix etc. have have had a ready market without Napster, KazaA, Pirate Bay and other file sharing sites making people used to getting music and movies online?
  - wcummings 12y ago
    And more importantly, would old media have felt the same pressure to license their content to these new services w/o the spectre of file sharing?
Shivetya 12y ago
I am not all that keen on punishing the taxi companies, I am more keen of obtaining sane regulation of industries such that we quit locking out competitors or innovation. Far too much commerce resides behind the walled garden of regulation, the worst being alcohol and tobacco; regardless how you feel about those the protection afforded by regulation and government enforcers is frightening. Heck, if you want to see real silly, go read the horror stories in some states about enforcement on hair salons; as in if your not connected they will fine you to oblivion for any infraction they can find.
mironathetin 12y ago
"Personally, I don't care if Uber or another nicer or more legal alternative wins. As long as the taxi companies lose." Agreed. In my home town taxis break every rule that you can imagine in the name of their precious business. I've seen them ignoring priorities, bicycles, pedestrians, speed limits, I've seen taxis using walkways and bike lanes to avoid red lights. Indicating the direction is out of fashion since long. My last taxis ride to the airport was with 180 km/h on a street with 100 km/h limit while the driver was flipping through a folder on his dashboard in order to organize - whatever - with his company. Not to speak about the noise of taxis dashing through the town at 3 in the morning. Yes, I don't like what I read about uber, but alternatives for taxis are overdue.