Evading local regulators is a federal matter?
RICO laws are pretty broad.
True. But considering RICO's original intent, investigating a software company for evading draconian local taxi regulations seems out of scope.
Uber faces criminal probe over software used to evade authorities
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Re: Uber faces criminal probe over software used to evade authorities
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
When it's done using communication and information transfer across state borders there is at least a case to be made for that.
Hmm. But local taxi regulations are not federal law, so what's the underlying federal crime being committed?
If money is moving from one state to another, then I would assume it's considered Interstate commerce, which is federal jurisdiction.
Re: Uber faces criminal probe over software used to evade authorities
#23>the Greyball technique was also used against suspected local officials who could have been looking to fine drivers, impound cars or otherwise prevent Uber from operating, the employees said Doesn't Uber have a responsibility to protect itself and its drivers from fake riders looking to do harm even if they're government employees?? I think going after average or in many cases poor people trying to make a buck drivin…
If those local officials were issuing arbitrary fines and illegally impounding cars I'd agree with you. But they weren't. Those local officials were enforcing the laws of their jurisdictions, which Uber was trying to circumvent.
Re: Uber faces criminal probe over software used to evade authorities
#24Everyone really is piling up against Uber. I really hope this isn't some sort of Justice Department revenge against Travis for having left the Trump advisory council [0] [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/technology/uber-ceo-travi...
I would say it's more likely if he had stayed the politics could have stopped it. Now that he quit, he doesn't have the boss's blessing so they are free to pursue. This is exactly what K street is paid to stop.
No, despite most preconceptions about corporations and gov'ts you don't lobby your way out of criminal charges. The best defense to avoid this is don't do stupid things or break the law.
This is actually really important for this community to understand, because a nontrivial # of founders read this. Don't get politically involved to enable bad behaviour -- not only is it wrong, but it won't work. Listen to your lawyers and conscientious objectors, and build a company around good products that people love.
Re: Uber faces criminal probe over software used to evade authorities
#25At first, it seemed like legitimate software to assess spam until: > For example, it mined credit card information to see if the owner was affiliated with a credit union used by police and checked social media profiles to assess the likelihood that the person was in law enforcement. Yikes. I know people who have the mentality that this sort of thing is ok. Whether you're a startup that never makes it, or one worth bi…
Why haven't you quit yet? There's been more ugly stuff coming out about Uber over the past few years than basically the entire of the rest of the tech industry combined.
Re: Uber faces criminal probe over software used to evade authorities
#26This is really big; if they were misusing credit card records like that, they risk losing accreditation from their PCI systems. There is probably some criminal aspect to violating PCI as well. Does anyone here know more about how PCI works?
It's been quite a while since I've been involved with PCI, but it was mostly a compliance system for dealing with fraud risk. I don't remember any legal aspects of it though.
There are different levels of PCI, each with requirements for risk mitigation.
Edit: Fixed an apostrophe.
Re: Uber faces criminal probe over software used to evade authorities
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hmm. But local taxi regulations are not federal law, so what's the underlying federal crime being committed?
If money is moving from one state to another, then I would assume it's considered Interstate commerce, which is federal jurisdiction.
Sure, but what federal law was broken? I wasn't aware that the federal government enforces local city regulations just because money is moving between states.
Re: Uber faces criminal probe over software used to evade authorities
#28At first, it seemed like legitimate software to assess spam until: > For example, it mined credit card information to see if the owner was affiliated with a credit union used by police and checked social media profiles to assess the likelihood that the person was in law enforcement. Yikes. I know people who have the mentality that this sort of thing is ok. Whether you're a startup that never makes it, or one worth bi…
Switched to Lyft following the Susan Fowler blog post, haven't noticed any difference in service at all. Great replacement, at least in a major metro.
Sometimes I'll chat with the drivers about what they prefer and most seem to like getting Lyft work more, but Uber has more demand.
Re: Uber faces criminal probe over software used to evade authorities
#29Uber is having one hell of a year. Anyone have an idea whether it has significantly affected their recruitment of new people?
Re: Uber faces criminal probe over software used to evade authorities
#30This is really big; if they were misusing credit card records like that, they risk losing accreditation from their PCI systems. There is probably some criminal aspect to violating PCI as well. Does anyone here know more about how PCI works?
I'm not sure this is relevant to PCI. PCI is about the security of credit card information. Do you store it safely, is access restricted, etc. I don't think PCI is concerned with whether you're doing ethically shady stuff with the data so long as it's stored and transferred in compliant ways.