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Europe's Top Court To Decide If Uber Is Tech Firm Or Taxi Company

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-are-you? dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A Spanish judge has requested that the European Court of Justice determine whether or not Uber is a generic "digital service," as it claims, or a "mere transport activity." If the court rules that Uber is a transportation firm the company may have to follow the same licensing and safety rules as taxis and other hired vehicles. "Today's news means that the European Court of Justice will now determine if the national rules currently being applied to digital services like Uber are legal and appropriate under European law," said Mark MacGann, Uber's Head of Public Policy for EMEA, on a conference call with journalists.

4 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. Taxi company by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's a taxi company

    I can order a taxi online already. Why would a particular implementation of ordering transport online suddenly make it something completely different?

    If you take away the cars, Uber no longer has anything to sell. If you take away the online app, they could switch to some other channel and continue.

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    1. Re:Taxi company by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why would a particular implementation of ordering transport online suddenly make it something completely different?

      As far as I can tell, because Uber wants it to be.

      Which, also as far as I can tell, is a complete lie as the company seems to think they stepped in unicorn poop and can now make up their own definitions and decide what laws apply to them.

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  2. Easy way out for Uber by fluffernutter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If Uber doesn't want to be a Taxi company, then they should really stop focusing so much on carrying people around in cars.

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  3. Re:Court should refuse to rule by Primate+Pete · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a false analogy for two reasons:

    First, in the candlemakers' appeal, the requst is to kill the competition. In the Uber case, the question is which body of law to apply. These are not parallel questions.

    Second, Bastiat's appeal is fictional and based on satire and oversimplification to make a point; the Spanish judge's request is based in actual events and law, which are much more complicated.