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Uber Faces $410 Million Canadian Class Action Suit
farrellj writes: A class action suit has been filed by the Taxi and Limo drivers and owners in the Province of Ontario in Canada against Uber, demanding CAN$400 million in compensatory damages, $10 million in punitive damages. They claim Uber is violating the Ontario Highway Traffic Act that covers taxis and limos, and has caused them to lose money. They also seek an injunction against Uber operating in Ontario. "This protectionist suit is without merit," Uber said in a statement. "As we saw from a recent court ruling in Ontario, Uber is operating legally and is a business model distinct from traditional taxi services."
..we don't have to obey those pesky laws! Our founders are all Libertarians/Randian Objectivists, laws are for poor people! Haven't you read Fountainhead?? Arblegarblewarble!!!
In AD 2015, Uber is violation the Ontario Highway Traffic Act!!
Uber Executive: "What Happen??"
Uber Executive: "Somebody set up us the lawsuit!!"
The Taxi and Limo Drivers And Owners in the Province of Ontario, Canada: "HOW ARE YOU GENTLEMEN"
Ttladoitpooc: "YOU HAVE CAUSED US TO LOST MONEY AND ARE VIOLATION OF THE ONTARIO HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ACT"
Ttladoitpooc: "WE MAKE LAWSUE FOR FOUR HUNDRED MILLION CANADIAN DOLLARS OF CANADA"
Ttladoitpooc: "YOU HAVE NO RECOUP CHANCE FOR LEGAL FEES MAKE YOUR TIME"
Uber Executives: "TAKE OFF EVERY ATTORNEY, FOR GREAT JUSTICE!!"
This is one of the more insightful bits of investigative journalism I've read in a long time:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com...
Some quotes:
[...] one of the most compelling investigative projects ... in the Toronto taxicabs that I rode in so often on my way to assignments. I discovered that almost none of Torontoâ(TM)s city-issued taxi licenses â" known as âoeplatesâ â" were in the hands of working cab drivers. Instead, they were held by people who made others pay to use them.
[Taxi] plate holders included an airline pilot, a dentist, investors who lived in Florida and Israel, and estates that had inherited the licenses after the holder died. The problems created by the plate system were mind-boggling. At least 30 per cent of the industryâ(TM)s revenues went to people who did nothing but milk income from their licenses.
So the Toronto Taxi system is a cesspool of entitled leeches, and Uber â" which nonetheless seems to have a shady side to it â" seems to be doing some overdue jostling. Hence the ridiculous class action.
Did you miss the "farrellj writes:" part of the summary? You can CLICK RIGHT HERE to view the author's Slashdot profile if you did miss that part of the summary.
He has a 3-digit Slashdot UID, for crying out loud! Show some respect!
According to his Slashdot profile biography, he coined the term "slashdot effect", for crying out loud! Show some respect!
And he also has been using Linux since kernel version 0.12, for crying out loud! Show some respect!
And he even built a Linux distribution for a company, for crying out loud! Show some respect!
And he was a past vice president of the Ottawa Linux users group, for crying out loud! Show some respect!
And he helped put on the Mozilla source code release party in Montreal, for crying out loud! Show some respect!
And he even runs a Science Fiction conference in his spare time, for crying out loud! Show some respect!
Show some fucking respect, why don't you!
Well the article is about the land north beyond the wall, so the interested editor might be a wildling, and wildlings don't know the difference.
Here in Oz, taxi drivers raced to the bottom long ago. It is the taxi plate OWNERS, not the drivers that hold the monopoly licenses, and cream 55% of the fares from the drivers.
Unless the Canadian situation is very different, then Uber is only a force for a bit of good.
So you go out and buy chocolate bars for $1 each and sell them for $5 and people only have to wait a minute or two to purchase them
And you don't bother getting a business license. Your business entrance isn't accessible to disabled people.
When asked whether you are insured against someone breaking their neck on your premises you mention that you've registered your place of business as your home, and that you have basic residential insurance. Besides its like having a garage sale... so its all casual and informal.
Sure its all organized and run by multi-billion dollar multi-national corporation... but other than connecting buyers with sellers with an app, handling all the money, advertising, and deciding who is allowed to participate, well... its still casual... like a garage sale.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have serious issues with the 'medallion' system and think its fundamentally wrong. But uber is a bunch of crooks.
Taxi drivers are upset that they finally have competition and for once they have to compete in a fair market place. If I need to get from point A to point B and my choices are a Taxi, or Uber, I'll always pick Uber because it's a better car, a better car ride, driven by someone who is actually qualified to drive me and someone who cares about more then earning a dollar. Taxi drivers are unsafe, unstable, wreckless, road navigators that ignore safety and rules all to make a dollar, It's time they learn that the public shouldn't have to put up with it.
I don't like the taxi industry, but the whole point is that Uber AREN'T competing in a fair marketplace, they are intentionally avoiding competing fairly by claiming they don't have to pay the same fees or abide by the same regulations as Taxi's and hence are able to undercut them.
Ebay: We're nothing like auctions.
Paypal: We're nothing like a bank.
If you're a tech company, claim you're nothing like has ever come before as to be immune to as many laws as possible.
God spoke to me
Uber isn't paying Ontario taxes. Their entire "distinct business model" will quickly fall apart the moment they become forced to pay things like sales taxes.
It's not just the taxes themselves. Around here, paying taxes means you're regulated, and being regulated means that the government is responsible for the public safety surrounding you.
So the moment Uber gets forced to pay sales taxes, is the moment that they are forced to control their drivers, is the moment their drivers become employees, is the moment they get to pay employment taxes, is the moment they get to safety-certify the vehicles, is the moment their "distinct business model" needs to raise prices to cover all of the added expense.
That will take them half-way to taxi fares. What people don't know is that the big expensive taxi licence isn't simply a money-grab. It's specifically to reduce the number of taxis. Around here, we regulate in order to reduce competition. With a tenth the population of the USA, and even lower population density, there simply isn't enough business out there to support the number of taxis that would set out to try.
Unlike in the USA, where too much competition would eventually result in a natural balance, around here it results in an entire industry going belly-up -- i.e. no taxis at all.
So, the moment that Uber is large enough to compete in the full market, that market won't be big enough to support Uber, taxis, and the next new Uber-like competitor that would be able to destroy Uber instantly simply because they will be newer. And as a result of that market-is-too-small-to-support-the-low-cost-of-entry, we artificially raise the cost-of-entry with a nice expensive licence.
But hey, electric cars are cheaper because they don't pay gas prices...which are most road taxes. Do you honestly think that in a world of everyone-drives-an-electric-vehicle that there won't be road taxes?
Welcome to new "distinct business models". They work only while they are new. That's the distinct part.
I have a great deal of respect for the English language, but as I suffer from both Dyslexia, and ADHD, it is amazing I can express myself at all in the written word. I can't write as fast as I think, so I accidentally drop words from sentences. If it wasn't for spell check, I would be functionally illiterate.
So go ahead and kick the cripple, it's easy and fun.
Right.
CAN-CON 2019 - Ottawa's only book oriented Science Fiction Convention! October 18-20, Sheraton Hotel, Ottawa, Canada h
to enforce the existing laws for _everyone_? Instead of just saying "Well, the plat owners are violating the law so it's OK if Uber does it too"?
Oh, and while I'm on the subject, Uber's choice of prey is slightly different. Uber requires a pretty nice car. The sort that you're run of the mill cabbie doesn't have. That's why cabbies get stuck renting their cars. Uber drivers are mostly desperate folks who just lost their job with a decent car from when they had one. The cab companies prey on recent immigrants. Uber preys on the recently unemployed.
Both practices are abhorrent. Let's shut 'em both down.
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Perhaps that explains why my company bUber (pronounced Boob Urge) has bee so tied up in the courts. The concept is simple our company iPimp arranges meetings of escorts in hotel rooms. The contractors are all independent contractors, making a little money, but really they are their to give their single serving friends, we call them rides, a hand. This is completely different from normal prostitution, it's a different bussiness model even though it fills the same niche. In places where whore houses are well regulated, inspected and liscenced one can see that we don't need to meet such requirements since our service producers are independent contractors. Our rates are lower since were just making connections between people who might not be full time whores. They just notify us when they are available and we make use of what would otherwise would have been wasted time. We have surge pricing for conventions and with that can get more providers on the street when they are needed.
Recently Uber approached us because it fits well with there model. Our providers need delivery to addresses, and their drivers can act as sales agents for us as well. But they are reluctant to merge with us until we can shake these ridiculous legal problems. We certainly are not a traditional whore house.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.