Wasn't the taxi industry also one where it had its own corruption and connections with people who may resort to guns to protect their turf? How did companies like Uber and Lyft gain marketshare without incurring some physical penalty?
- South Korea [1]
- France [2]
- Kenya [3]
- Malaysia [4]
- South Africa [5]
- Mexico [6]
- Brazil [7]
- Indonesia [8]
- ...and I could go on.
[1]: https://www.vice.com/en/article/qvyzn5/south-korea-uber-kaka...
[2]: https://www.stripes.com/travelers-caught-in-cross-fire-as-fr...
[3]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/23/uber-taxi-set-...
[4]: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/06/22...
[5]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/08/violence-erupt...
[6]: https://time.com/3915705/uber-mexico-dispute/
[7]: https://techcrunch.com/2015/10/01/the-fight-against-uber-is-...
[8]: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/world/asia/indonesia-jaka...
(Disclosure: I am a former Uber employee.)
> Despite repeated rulings against it and an October law that explicitly outlaws UberPop, its drivers continue to ply French roads and the American ride-hailing company is actively recruiting drivers and passengers alike. Uber claims to have a total of 400,000 customers a month in France.
I think France has a long history of violently taking back what’s their’s.
I didn’t quite realize why Uber needed gazillions of dollars, but once a friend told me a significant of their expenses were legal/permit related expenses, that made sense. They had so much money, they could keep on paying fines and keep on growing.
I’m glad the Silicon Valley complex is able to churn out Ubers and AirBnBs every now and then. Although they create other second order problems, it’s good to see customers have more choice.
Regardless of your views on Prop 22, for instance, the power imbalance is daunting. When you consider the average voter, it's not clear whether an individual can make an informed judgement.