Fuck the state: Uber Car-Sharing App Flouts Berlin's Ban

Uber Technologies Inc., the ride-hailing application that’s rankling taxi drivers from Boston to Tokyo, defied a ban in Berlin, risking a 25,000-euro ($33,000) fine every time it transports a customer in Germany’s capital.

Berlin’s senate yesterday prohibited the smartphone app, arguing that passengers who use the service aren’t insured in case of accident. Uber will challenge the ban “as soon as possible,” Fabien Nestmann, a company spokesman, said by phone.

“The service is continuing,” said Nestmann in an interview today. “We’re disappointed and think this prohibition order is the wrong approach.”

Governments and regulators in cities around the world are restricting Uber’s business on the grounds it poses safety risks and unfairly competes with licensed taxi services. Cabbies with licenses that can cost 200,000 euros apiece have staged protests in European cities including London, Madrid, Paris and Berlin.

“Protecting passengers is the priority,” Berlin authorities said in an e-mailed statement. “The basic idea of protecting the taxi business has also been applied.”

Investors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS:US) and Google Ventures are pouring cash into the burgeoning market for apps that let users order taxis and cars or share rides using their smartphones. Uber, which is active in more than 40 countries, raised $1.2 billion in funding in June, giving it a value of $17 billion.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-08-14/uber-faces-wrath-of-berlin-cabbies-as-car-sharing-app-flouts-ban

Fuck the state: Uber Car-Sharing App Flouts Berlin's Ban

Fuck the state: Uber Car-Sharing App Flouts Berlin's Ban

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