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It sounds like Greyball started out as a fairly legitimate tool to protect their drivers and customers from violence and abuse. And, then, of course it's use started broadening to the current status...
I don't see why this is so bad. They're a private business, and they're allowed to do business with whom they will. It doesn't really change anything w.r.t the fact that they're skirting regulation, especially if the given origin story is true. Pretty tame compared to the other stuff we've been seeing from Uber, lately.
"Q: What sorts of acts may constitute obstruction of justice? A: Obstruction may consist of any attempt to hinder the discovery, apprehension, conviction or punishment of anyone who has committed a crime. Q: Does obstruction of justice always involve bribery or physical force? A: No. One particularly murky category of obstruction is the use of "misleading conduct" toward another person for the purpose of obstructing…
Similarly if Uber is operating illegally in a city and they use software to avoid picking up a city official in a sting operation that doesn't sound like obstruction.
I'm no lawyer though.
Uber really getting Theranos-ed lately. It's like the press was saving up their Uber hit pieces and is just unleashing them this week.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My perspective is the opposite. In a world where large multinationals have the power to evade the law in a deliberate and systematic way like this, it's easy for governments to claim they need the same kind of power. Things like this are exactly what bureaucrats point to when they make their arguments for a surveillance state. I don't like the US government much, but I like it a lot better than the average multinatio…
I don't like the US government much, but I like it a lot better than the average multinational. When it comes down to it, we don't have more than our choice of devils. If I don't like Uber, I can... stop using Uber. What can I do if I don't like the service a state provides - can I opt out and stop paying? No, my only option is to flee - which the state will often try and prevent you doing anyway. The state is a huge…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My perspective is the opposite. In a world where large multinationals have the power to evade the law in a deliberate and systematic way like this, it's easy for governments to claim they need the same kind of power. Things like this are exactly what bureaucrats point to when they make their arguments for a surveillance state. I don't like the US government much, but I like it a lot better than the average multinatio…
I don't like the US government much, but I like it a lot better than the average multinational. When it comes down to it, we don't have more than our choice of devils. If I don't like Uber, I can... stop using Uber. What can I do if I don't like the service a state provides - can I opt out and stop paying? No, my only option is to flee - which the state will often try and prevent you doing anyway. The state is a huge…
I don't see why this is so bad. They're a private business, and they're allowed to do business with whom they will. It doesn't really change anything w.r.t the fact that they're skirting regulation, especially if the given origin story is true. Pretty tame compared to the other stuff we've been seeing from Uber, lately.
"Q: What sorts of acts may constitute obstruction of justice? A: Obstruction may consist of any attempt to hinder the discovery, apprehension, conviction or punishment of anyone who has committed a crime. Q: Does obstruction of justice always involve bribery or physical force? A: No. One particularly murky category of obstruction is the use of "misleading conduct" toward another person for the purpose of obstructing…
I'm not excusing Uber at all because what they've done is extremely bad in multiple cases but find it strange all these hit pieces are coming out of the wood works. There is a large section of society that hates Uber and will spring at any chance to bring it down. Which is partially what I think happened with the whole #boycottUber thing and the new video of kalanick yelling at the driver. However, the sexism and dys…
There's definitely some piling on by former employees and reporters. It seems to be a bit of a human trait, and I remember some of this happening to Amazon in the wake of the NY Times piece a couple years ago ( https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-... ). That said, the dirt coming from Uber seems to be a lot worse and a lot more widespread for a company that is 1/30th the size of what Amazon wa…
I assume this is ignoring drivers? Surely if you include the contractors the size difference isn't so stark. I would actually expect Uber to be larger, but I don't know.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This was leaked by their own employees. Including current ones.
Yeah, all these "hit pieces" cooked up by Uber employees because of their ethics are really undermining the case against Uber. /s If anything, I have greater respect for Uber employees after this series of leaks than I did before.
Edit: This comment was written before the parent added the /s tag.
I'm confused by what laws were broken by Greyball. It's certainly deceptive, but is that illegal? In these cases I'm sympathetic to Uber - Let's call it "don't delay the pie to get your slice". One of the types of circumstances described is where a municipality doesn't know how to handle ride-shares, so Uber does questionable things to get ride-shares going while the legal situation is figured out. This seems reasona…
Depending on circumstances/jurisdiction, and done for the explicit purpose of preventing law enforcement or other officials from being able to catch criminals (again, the uber drivers breaking the law by driving when it's banned), yes, it's absolutely illegal.
(whether it should be is a different question, but it definitely is)