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FrodosNewPet

(495 posts)
Fri May 5, 2017, 12:16 AM May 2017

Justice Department opens criminal probe into Uber

Source: Washington Post

By Elizabeth Dwoskin and Craig Timberg | May 4 at 9:41 PM

The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into Uber’s use of a secret software that was used to evade authorities in places where its ride-hailing service was banned or restricted, according to a person familiar with the government’s probe.

The investigation is in its early stages, but deepens the crisis for the embattled company and its chief executive and founder Travis Kalanick, who has faced a barrage of negative press this year in the wake of high-profile sexual harassment complaints, a slew of high-level executive departures, and a consequential trade secrets lawsuit from Google’s parent company.

The federal criminal probe, first reported by Reuters, focuses on software developed by Uber called “Greyball.” The program helped the company evade officials in cities where Uber was not yet approved. The software identified and blocked rides to transportation regulators who were posing as Uber customers to prove that the company was operating illegally.

~ snip ~

In its earlier years, the company employed cutthroat tactics against its competitor Lyft At one point, Uber employees would summon Lyft drivers and then cancel rides. Kalanick once bragged about a feature, called “God View,” which it used to track a journalist and other noteworthy individuals. He has charged into legal battles with transportation regulators and taxi drivers in cities across the world

~ snip ~

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/05/04/justice-department-opens-criminal-probe-into-uber

7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Justice Department opens criminal probe into Uber (Original Post) FrodosNewPet May 2017 OP
How Uber Deceives the Authorities Worldwide FrodosNewPet May 2017 #1
fuck Uber Skittles May 2017 #2
The concept is noble FrodosNewPet May 2017 #3
The Old School Taxis just cost too damn much. MADem May 2017 #6
Not to mention insurance, maintenance, dispatch, marketing... FrodosNewPet May 2017 #7
Uber's Elephant In The Room (It's Not CEO Travis Kalanick) FrodosNewPet May 2017 #4
Link to BBC nitpicker May 2017 #5

FrodosNewPet

(495 posts)
1. How Uber Deceives the Authorities Worldwide
Fri May 5, 2017, 12:25 AM
May 2017
How Uber Deceives the Authorities Worldwide

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-greyball-program-evade-authorities.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

By MIKE ISAAC | MARCH 3, 2017


SAN FRANCISCO — Uber has for years engaged in a worldwide program to deceive the authorities in markets where its low-cost ride-hailing service was resisted by law enforcement or, in some instances, had been banned.

The program, involving a tool called Greyball, uses data collected from the Uber app and other techniques to identify and circumvent officials who were trying to clamp down on the ride-hailing service. Uber used these methods to evade the authorities in cities like Boston, Paris and Las Vegas, and in countries like Australia, China and South Korea.

~ snip ~

At the time, Uber had just started its ride-hailing service in Portland without seeking permission from the city, which later declared the service illegal. To build a case against the company, officers like Mr. England posed as riders, opening the Uber app to hail a car and watching as miniature vehicles on the screen made their way toward the potential fares.

But unknown to Mr. England and other authorities, some of the digital cars they saw in the app did not represent actual vehicles. And the Uber drivers they were able to hail also quickly canceled. That was because Uber had tagged Mr. England and his colleagues — essentially Greyballing them as city officials — based on data collected from the app and in other ways. The company then served up a fake version of the app, populated with ghost cars, to evade capture.

~ snip ~

FrodosNewPet

(495 posts)
3. The concept is noble
Fri May 5, 2017, 04:41 AM
May 2017

Transporting people who have no other practical means of transportations is a great thing/ And the old school taxi services were frequently a mess.

But yes, Uber's tactics are crap. They completely ignore any worker and consumer protection laws. They do not help their drivers run a successful small business by educating them on financial planning or customer service. And the entitled frat-boy mentality of Travis K has lead to a toxic, cut throat corporate culture. with sexual harassment and bullying as SOP.

All this while losing billions of investor $$$s per year. They are destroying the traditional cab companies, but it is starting to look like a murder suicide.

MADem

(135,425 posts)
6. The Old School Taxis just cost too damn much.
Fri May 5, 2017, 06:04 AM
May 2017

Part of the reason for that is because the "license" costs a small fortune (sometimes a large one) and the taxi companies take a robust share of the profits.

That said, I haven't heard great things about this UBER concept, either--I guess it's an OK way to work part-time and grub up some dough, but it's hard long hours for low pay if you need to make a lot of money. If you're just doing it as a cash hobby or for pin money, that's one thing, but as an only source of income I should think it would be wearying.

The younger generation likes the idea of a hire car, but they don't want to pay hire car/limo prices...that's why Uber is so appealing to them. They look at the subway or public bus as transportation of last resort, often as not, whereas years ago those would be the first choice.

In the Middle East, there are a variety of taxi services, from "public" (the taxis operate like a bus and pick anyone up who's waving at them, until every seat is full) to "hail on the street" to "pick up at the taxi stand" to ""hire car" (with driver/by the hour, half day or day, e.g.). Some taxis ply regular routes, others follow the route of the first customer and dump people off if they're not going the full distance. These are more convenient than the buses, because there's not waiting at the bus stop, but sometimes (depends on time of day) the buses are less crowded than the taxis.

FrodosNewPet

(495 posts)
7. Not to mention insurance, maintenance, dispatch, marketing...
Fri May 5, 2017, 04:25 PM
May 2017

...and "deadhead" miles. $4,000 a year insurance is pretty common. With 200-300 miles a day, you need oil changes about 15+ times a year. New tires every 6 months, and a brake job every year.

Traditional services usually do not have deep pocketed investors to subsidize the business so they can run with predatory pricing fares.

FrodosNewPet

(495 posts)
4. Uber's Elephant In The Room (It's Not CEO Travis Kalanick)
Fri May 5, 2017, 05:01 AM
May 2017
Uber's Elephant In The Room (It's Not CEO Travis Kalanick)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lensherman/2017/05/04/ubers-elephant-in-the-room-its-not-ceo-travis-kalanick/#5819f6b77789

Len Sherman, Contributor | May 4, 2017 @ 09:25 PM


By any measure, Uber is off to a terrible start in 2017. A plaintive account of Uber’s misogynistic culture by an ex-employee went viral, unleashing a flood or corroborating stories. Travis Kalanick, the embattled CEO, was further shamed by the release of a video displaying boorish behavior in his encounter with an Uber driver. This was followed by disclosures of Uber’s use of defeat software to evade regulatory agency monitoring, by damaging pre-trial motions in an IP theft lawsuit that puts Uber’s self-driving vehicle program at risk, by revelations of inadequacies in Uber’s driver screening procedures, and by the disclosure that Uber was secretly spying on its own and Lyft drivers for competitive advantage. Adding to these tumultuous challenges, a number of Uber senior executives, including President Jeff Jones and corporate communications head Rachel Whetstone, have opted or been asked to resign in the past month. Through these errors of omission and commission, Uber might as well have painted a big, bright target on its back, making it seemingly the company that everyone loves to hate. Not surprisingly the press coverage has been savage and relentless, most justified, some not.

But amidst all this uproar, Uber has an elephant in the room that has drawn far less scrutiny: the company is burning cash at a frightening rate, its business fundamentals are fraught with chronic challenges, and Uber’s path to profitability is far from certain.

As a pre-IPO enterprise, we only have sketchy data, but here’s what we can piece together about Uber’s business model. For starters, Uber has been a prodigious fundraiser, securing more venture capital than any startup in history -- $11B – since launching operations seven years ago. Getting off to an early start with by far the biggest balance sheet has enabled Uber to grow much faster than competitors in this nascent category. In 2016, the company carried 700 million passengers in over 70 countries, booked $20 billion in rides, and generated $6.8 billion in net revenues.

~ snip ~

However, no one is making money in the ridesharing business yet, and in Uber’s case, losses have been mounting at an alarming rate. Even with generous, non-GAAP accounting adjustments, Uber reported a loss of $2.8 billion in 2016, compared to $1.5 billion in 2015 and $.67 billion in 2014. And even though Uber has been shrinking its operating losses as a percent revenue, the absolute magnitude of its losses almost doubled last year.

~ snip ~

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