Uber lobbied to relax labor, taxi laws; used 'stealth' tech to block scrutiny, report says

ABC 7 Chicago ^ | 7/10/22

[Libloather]

As Uber aggressively pushed into markets around the world, the ride-sharing service lobbied political leaders to relax labor and taxi laws, used a "kill switch'' to thwart regulators and law enforcement, channeled money through Bermuda and other tax havens and considered portraying violence against its drivers as a way to gain public sympathy, according to a report released Sunday.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a nonprofit network of investigative reporters, scoured internal Uber texts, emails, invoices and other documents to deliver what it called "an unprecedented look into the ways Uber defied taxi laws and upended workers' rights.''

**SNIP**

Founded in 2009, Uber sought to skirt taxi regulations and offer inexpensive transportation via a ride-sharing app. The consortium's Uber Files revealed the extraordinary lengths that the company undertook to establish itself in nearly 30 countries.

The company's lobbyists - including former aides to President Barack Obama - pressed government officials to drop their investigations, rewrite labor and taxi laws and relax background checks on drivers, the papers show.

The investigation found that Uber used "stealth technology'' to fend off government investigations. The company, for example, used a "kill switch'' that cut access to Uber servers and blocked authorities from grabbing evidence during raids in at least six countries. During a police raid in Amsterdam, the Uber Files reported, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick personally issued an order: "Please hit the kill switch ASAP ... Access must be shut down in AMS (Amsterdam).''

The consortium also reported that Kalanick saw the threat of violence against Uber drivers in France by aggrieved taxi drivers as a way to gain public support. "Violence guarantee(s) success,'' Kalanick texted colleagues.

[Libloather]

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

Maybe they could check out Hunter Brandon, no?

[Brian Griffin]

For many years one typically had to rent or buy a medallion in order drive a cab in NYC.

These medallions not too many years ago cost about $1 million to buy.

They were often owned by people who were in the business of collecting medallion rent.

The financial industry types that got private car service to get them to and from work realized that there was a medallion workaround - private car service for the ordinary New Yorker.

[Brian Griffin]

Amendment I

“...and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”

Lobbying, like gun possession, is a constitutional right.

[Brian Griffin]

“Amsterdam”

The Europeans don’t like it when Americans make money internationally, but are happy to sell Americans perfume, wine and tulip bulbs.

[utahb52]

This reminds me of an article about Uber I saw a few years ago. Supposedly, the Uber app left a tracking program on every phone even when it was deleted. When Apple discovered it, Steve Jobs, (maybe it was Tim Cook, I don't really remember exactly how long ago the article was) told the Uber CEO to his face that if they didn't remove it, Apple would shut down the app on all iPhones thus killing a major part of Uber’s market.