<story><title>Uber ordered to halt transportation services in Germany</title><url>http://www.dw.de/smartphone-app-uber-ordered-to-halt-transportation-services-in-germany/a-17894286</url><text>Google translated article: http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.google.com&amp;#x2F;translate?hl=en&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;sl=auto&amp;amp;tl=en&amp;amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spiegel.de%2Fwirtschaft%2Funternehmen%2Fuber-gericht-stoppt-taxidienst-in-ganz-deutschland-a-989332.html</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>Smrchy</author><text>I live in Germany and i am happy that some things are more regulated here.&lt;p&gt;I like that Taxi companies need to have extra insurance and the cars &lt;i&gt;and&lt;/i&gt; drivers are checked on a regular basis. Just like the TÜV (a mandatory checkup every two years for every vehicle) makes sure all vehicles have functioning lights, brakes, proper tires etc.&lt;p&gt;This ruling only makes sure Uber follows those same rules other transportation businesses follow as well. There is competition in the transportation business here but there is no room for people sidestepping completely sane rules everybody should agree on.&lt;p&gt;I am in no way affiliated with the taxi business and i like lower fares too. But not at the cost of safety and less checks for cars and drivers.&lt;p&gt;Once Uber agrees to comply i am happy to use their app and their drivers. I doubt they will be able to operate much cheaper though - i am fine with that.</text></item><item><author>jacquesm</author><text>The court order is here:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://docs.dpaq.de/7814-beschluss-landgericht-ffm_uber-taxi-deutschland_2014-09-01.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;docs.dpaq.de&amp;#x2F;7814-beschluss-landgericht-ffm_uber-taxi...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s (obviously) in German.&lt;p&gt;The fines are 250K per violation, Uber has already announced they will fight this.&lt;p&gt;Uber is looking for a communications lead in Germany: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.uber.com/jobs/18835&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.uber.com&amp;#x2F;jobs&amp;#x2F;18835&lt;/a&gt; , they&amp;#x27;ll definitely be needing that and more.&lt;p&gt;Deutsche Welle has it here (in English):&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dw.de/smartphone-app-uber-ordered-to-halt-transportation-services-in-germany/a-17894286&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.dw.de&amp;#x2F;smartphone-app-uber-ordered-to-halt-transpo...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;edit: thanks!</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jnardiello</author><text>Genuine question: Is Uber really cheaper than taxi? Honestly: in Italy it&amp;#x27;s not. It&amp;#x27;s hell expensive, probably a bit more expensive than usual cabs - which are incredibly expensive by definition. So yeah, this &amp;quot;We are a startup&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;Silicon Valley&amp;quot; thing is just a horrible excuse to avoid complying with regulations.&lt;p&gt;If regulations in Silicon Valley (or wherever else) allow Uber business model to be sustainable, good for them. This isn&amp;#x27;t something obvious when you go international and it is part of the challenge. Simply not giving a fuck is just mediocre and you deserve to cease operations. Period.</text></comment>
<story><title>Uber ordered to halt transportation services in Germany</title><url>http://www.dw.de/smartphone-app-uber-ordered-to-halt-transportation-services-in-germany/a-17894286</url><text>Google translated article: http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.google.com&amp;#x2F;translate?hl=en&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;sl=auto&amp;amp;tl=en&amp;amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spiegel.de%2Fwirtschaft%2Funternehmen%2Fuber-gericht-stoppt-taxidienst-in-ganz-deutschland-a-989332.html</text></story><parent_chain><item><author>Smrchy</author><text>I live in Germany and i am happy that some things are more regulated here.&lt;p&gt;I like that Taxi companies need to have extra insurance and the cars &lt;i&gt;and&lt;/i&gt; drivers are checked on a regular basis. Just like the TÜV (a mandatory checkup every two years for every vehicle) makes sure all vehicles have functioning lights, brakes, proper tires etc.&lt;p&gt;This ruling only makes sure Uber follows those same rules other transportation businesses follow as well. There is competition in the transportation business here but there is no room for people sidestepping completely sane rules everybody should agree on.&lt;p&gt;I am in no way affiliated with the taxi business and i like lower fares too. But not at the cost of safety and less checks for cars and drivers.&lt;p&gt;Once Uber agrees to comply i am happy to use their app and their drivers. I doubt they will be able to operate much cheaper though - i am fine with that.</text></item><item><author>jacquesm</author><text>The court order is here:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://docs.dpaq.de/7814-beschluss-landgericht-ffm_uber-taxi-deutschland_2014-09-01.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;docs.dpaq.de&amp;#x2F;7814-beschluss-landgericht-ffm_uber-taxi...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s (obviously) in German.&lt;p&gt;The fines are 250K per violation, Uber has already announced they will fight this.&lt;p&gt;Uber is looking for a communications lead in Germany: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.uber.com/jobs/18835&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.uber.com&amp;#x2F;jobs&amp;#x2F;18835&lt;/a&gt; , they&amp;#x27;ll definitely be needing that and more.&lt;p&gt;Deutsche Welle has it here (in English):&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dw.de/smartphone-app-uber-ordered-to-halt-transportation-services-in-germany/a-17894286&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.dw.de&amp;#x2F;smartphone-app-uber-ordered-to-halt-transpo...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;edit: thanks!</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>smsm42</author><text>Is there any evidence Uber is actually less safe? I mean beyond the fact that a man blessed by state aegis checks taxi&amp;#x27;s breaks while regular plebeian mechanics do the same for Uber, what is the evidence Uber is sidestepping completely sane rules and not just red tape made to look like sane rules?&lt;p&gt;Not anecdotes like &amp;quot;Uber driver did X&amp;quot; - I&amp;#x27;m sure for each such anecdote one can find &amp;quot;taxi driver did X&amp;quot; but real data on the scale of Germany - or any other scale like this?</text></comment>