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Dutch Prosecutors Launch Criminal Investigation Against Uber For Flouting Ban
An anonymous reader writes Dutch prosecutors have announced that they are prosecuting taxi-hailing giant Uber for continuing to disregard last December's ban on the company offering its unlicensed UberPOP service in the Netherlands. The statement declares 'The company Uber is now a suspect...This means a preliminary examination will be started to collect evidence that Uber is providing illegal transportation on a commercial basis,'. Dutch police presented evidence to the prosecutors of UberPOP drivers in Amsterdam ignoring the ban, and at the time of writing the UberPOP service is still available via Uber's Amsterdam website [https://www.uber.com/cities/amsterdam]. Though Uber inspires new litigation on a weekly basis in the territories in which it is seeking to consolidate its services, this is the first time it has been the subject of a criminal prosecution.
"The best laid plans of mice and men are held up in the legal department."
I can't wait for the day they are all replaced by robots.
Revolution is the opium of the intellectuals.
The Uber drivers I have used have all been great. Complaints I've seen have all been about Uber the company, not the drivers... the drivers are just normal people trying to earn a living by making use of what they have.
Most taxi drivers I have encountered on the other hand, have ranged from standoffish to incredibly rude and sometimes hostile, frequently lying about fares to get more money. Taxi drivers can be that way in most places because they have no competition, no reason to provide anything like good service at all - and it doesn't hurt that in a number of areas they are tied to organized crime.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Being able to name a company as a suspect and file criminal charges against it would be amazing. Instead of just fining a company 0.001% of its annual net income, actually put some of these criminals into jail.
Foreclosed somebody's house "by accident" even though it was already paid off? That's felony theft of $250,000, treat the company like you would treat any individual who did that, no little $5,000 fine, someone needs to go to jail.
A corporate death penalty would be nice too for the big fuckups.
In most legal systems, you can't just directly ignore a court order without it becoming a criminal case. Even if it wasn't criminal before, violating a court order is itself an offense.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
the actual issue here in the Netherlands is that the taxi drivers have insurance in case they crash for their passengers.
uberPOP drivers don't have that so next to providing illegal commercial taxi services they are also uninsured
We should not have to register vehicles, obtain drivers licenses, social security numbers, license plates, or submit to other forms of identification.
How do can you identify the owner of a vehicle and whether or not it has been stolen without registration? How do you verify that a person knows how to drive and the rules of the road without driver's licenses? How do you confirm that a person is who they say they are without a social security number? How do you identify a vehicle that has left the scene of an accident without a license plate?
It's not impossible to arrest someone for committing murder in a system without driver licenses or taxi licenses.
"Impossible" is a pretty high standard. There are also other lesser crimes that are much better dealt with from a license number rather than a name. Do you know how many Bob Smiths there are?
As a human being we should have a right to run a business without interference unless our actions are interfering with the rights of others.
How do you identify a person who has interfered with the rights of others and is no longer allowed to run the business?
You don't have a right to pollute the waters, but you do have a right to drive people without being licensed.
Where is this "right" written down? Who has agreed this is a "right"? Oh right, this would be your opinion. Too bad it is not the opinion of most people.
At the same time people have the right to refuse business with unlicensed drivers.
So every passenger would have to checks the driver's license, registration, insurance and inspection report before getting into a cab? That is why there are taxi licenses so the passenger can be sure that these checks have already been done.
We should not have to register vehicles, obtain drivers licenses, social security numbers, license plates, or submit to other forms of identification. It's not impossible to arrest someone for committing murder in a system without driver licenses or taxi licenses. Such licensing doesn't stop or reduce the murder rate either. All it does is add costs to running a business.
Just last month I watched a truck rear end a minivan at a stop light then decide to make a run for it. In the process he forced a girl to jump out of the way (or get run over) then flew over a sidewalk around a blind corner (if anyone had been walking there he could have killed them).
Fortunately several people caught the license plate, he had a record already and with this latest infraction he'll likely be off the roads for a while. That most definitely could save lives.
you do have a right to drive people without being licensed. At the same time people have the right to refuse business with unlicensed drivers. Uber I imagine actually reduces risk to drivers and passengers alike by enabling individuals to select safer drivers.
What you don't have it the right to arbitrarily declare the laws we don't like to be unjust. There are times when there's real rights involved and civil disobedience is justified, I don't think a novel way of running a taxi service qualifies.
Should the law be changed to allow Uber-like services? Probably.
But that doesn't mean Uber can simply ignore the current laws.
I stole this Sig
What alternative method to social security numbers, vehicle license plates etc. do you propose that would enable unique identification of the identities of individuals? Your post seems like libertarian nonsense which (as usual) disregards that people who have formed societies with organization and structure - i.e. a rule creation and enforcement mechanism (also known as representatives of the people + a justice system) have always outcompeted those without.
Under whatever scheme you propose, how could you e.g. buy a car from me when you - without what you just bitched about - couldn't have any assurance that I haven't stolen it or that I even am who I say I am? And if it is stolen, how could the original owner prove it? And what entity would look at whatever proof could be presented and then facilitate its return to the owner and ensure some repercussions to me as a car thief? If I carry a bigger gun than the original owner, what could he or she do? Other than bitch and moan to get help?
It truly perplexes me how some people can look at all human history and imagine that a human society could function without the characteristics that are common to all societies that have ever existed. I'm not arguing that the system is fair or that all the baggage that comes along with it is anything but unjust and problematic or that the system even functions extremely well. All that such a system has to do to be worth having is to be better than not having it.
It's also ironic that you refer to a "right" to "run a business" because what running a business in normal parlance refers to is using a mechanism through which you can separate your business activities from your personal life and finances which is a right that only exists in the system you complain about. You could (and based on what you've said you also should) argue that such a right should not exist and hence that you can only do what nobody else prevents you from doing. However, I suspect that you prefer the inconsistent position that you "have a right to run a business" and at the same time that the mechanism which creates that right should not exist.
Uber is clearly racketeering. Are there special penalties there for it, as in the U.S.? There must be a solid extradition treaty between the two nations. If convicted, could the top Uber execs be facing years in Dutch prison?
Personally, I hope so. The idea that it's legal to be a crook as long as you're using smart phones and unlicensed contract labor to do it is pernicious. The Dutch literally invented capitalism. Let's hope they show the world again what it can be at its best, with the proper controls and ethics.
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
The laws already allow "Uber-like" services: I'm certain there aren't many places where taxis are illegal! They just need to follow the same requirements anyone else would to drive taxis.
True I would say places in the U.S. like NYC, SF, and Miami have especially bad cab drivers.
But I did not have good experiences in Rome, Belgum (also Brussels), and in fact in Germany also (Berlin).
I will agree the black cabs in London are very good, and actually I did have a great cab driver also in Turkey now that I think about it so I do feel a bit sorry for maligning them all in a blanket statement.
But I still stand by the statement that on average the Uber drivers have been much nicer, the cars in much better repair (even the taxi drivers that were friendly in Turkey still had pretty beat up cars).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
So every passenger would have to checks the driver's license, registration, insurance and inspection report before getting into a cab? That is why there are taxi licenses so the passenger can be sure that these checks have already been done.
Fucking communists ruining everything for everyone. Look it's simple the bad taxi drivers will just go out of business. So, if a tax driver murders you and turns your skin into a leather jacket, just vote with your wallet and use a different company next time. Then you'll see the invisible hand do its job.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Who cares if there's a way to track it or not? I'm not the parent poster but dislike everything with serial numbers on principle. Regardless of that, I dislike even more that for some thing you have to register it anyways. Everytime I've had something stolen (rare) it was never recovered anyways. Car over iPod or phone. Any responsible owner would keep such serial numbers and proof of purchase anyway.
Who cares if there's a way to track it or not?
The majority of people care.
I'm not the parent poster but dislike everything with serial numbers on principle.
Care to elaborate why? And what method would you propose to enable e.g. manufacturers to specify a set of identical products to recall when not all but a particular batch have a manufacturing flaw?
Regardless of that, I dislike even more that for some thing you have to register it anyways. Everytime I've had something stolen (rare) it was never recovered anyways. Car over iPod or phone.
That's unfortunate. However, your experience is anecdotal. How do you propose the police handle a situation in which they discover a warehouse full of what seems to be stolen goods? Ask people who have had stuff stolen to come and take a look in case they identify something? I suspect quite a few would show up to get "theirs". And would such a method be a just way to prove that the goods were stolen and the individual in whose possession they were should face consequences?
Any responsible owner would keep such serial numbers and proof of purchase anyway.
And how do you propose that other people than the owner identify a vehicle? Without a number plate, a photograph or even a video of a hit and run (or unlawfully parked) car is useless to identify the car later.
It's absolutely fucking insane that a business based on calling someone for a ride makes those with political power shit themselves with attempts to shut it down. Absolutely insane.
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
If you have a representative government change the laws. If your elected officials answer to special interest elect ones who don't. I know, lost cause, shut up and pay up.
hey its all word magic.
driving is an act of commerce, passengers always pay. subject to legislature, regulation, rules and laws
traveling on the highway with companions. no permission required from anyone.