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Italy Bans Uber (thenextweb.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Next Web: A court just banned Uber from using its apps in Italy -- yes, all of Italy. The court ruled in favor of the country's taxi drivers -- who filed the suit -- claiming Uber was "unfair competition." Now Uber can't use it's apps -- including UberBlack, Uber LUX, X, and Select -- and it can't promote or advertise itself at all within the country. For all intents and purposes, Uber is banned in Italy.
The case is likely to bubble up to the EU Justice Court.
Where they will get banned across all of Europe.
No means no in the personal space, but most of the big Internet companies were built on breaking the rules: Google and YouTube were built on copyright infringement, Facebook was built on privacy violations, Uber and Airbnb respectively ignore local transport and accommodation laws, PayPal violated credit card company agreements, Amazon aggressively imposes patents and parity-pricing agreements, and Snapchat has thrived from illicit activity by children, not to mention all those boosted to critical mass through illegal spam.
But once established, it's both feasible and desirable to show a kinder front.
"Now Uber can't use it's apps."
so sad!
Only if Uber is a whip user as well. Since this is all about taxi services.
Speak up, it's hard to hear you when your voice is coming from so deep in your colon.
Good. It's about time.
Uber is a taxi company. What they do is the exact definition of a taxi company. Using a phone app doesn't make them any less of a taxi company. It's time for Uber to follow the same rules that Taxi companies must follow, or, stop doing business.
I don't know if Italy has the power to ban an app. Maybe on IOS if Apple is willing to play ball. But they can't ban a web app. Not easily anyway.
In Sweden they do, or get banned from operating. Jail sentences have also been handed out to shady operators. Remember, not every place is as shitty as the US or Russia or China...
But... have people actually stopped using Uber in Italy? After all, lots of things are banned in a lot of places. Porn. Prostitution. Drugs. Gambling. And yet...
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Uber wants to be "more equal than others". If there are rules that you have to follow or you can try to get the government to change the rules for everyone. Instead, however, some companies try to break the rules to gain an unfair advantage:
Emission standards (I personally dislike those rules) are for everyone, except VW - "the competitors will spends lots of money developing better engines like idiots, while we can just cheat the test".
Taxi rules are for everyone except Uber, even though the service is the same, but "on a computer", like the patent trolls who manage to get a patent for some everyday action but "on a computer".
They had a great idea and it's spread across the world quickly and rewritten the rules of getting from a to b.
What is different about Uber compared to a regular taxi?
1. You arrange the ride (phonecall to a taxi company or by using an Uber app).
2. The car comes, you get in, get driven to your destination, pay for the service.
I don't know what dingy backwater you live in, but in places where people wear shoes, taxis are inspected and regulated.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Ironically, on my last trip to Italy, the only person who ripped us off is a taxi driver.
JP http://www.wearerite.com
No, they are not.
There are nineteen states without any inspection requirement at all.
You are welcome on my lawn.