A lesson in technology… and in common sense

Allan B. Weiss, a Queens, New York, Supreme Court judge has delivered Uber and other passenger transport companies a resounding victory by ruling that these businesses’ activities in no way breach any law. They had been taken to court by several credit companies that invested in loans to purchase taxi licenses on the grounds that Uber and co.’s apps constituted unfair competition.

The judge threw out the claims that said “a catastrophe is unfolding, as an entire industry continues to be illegally destroyed, while elected officials allow it to happen on their watch,” adding a few comments of his own that are worth citing:

“Any expectation that the medallion would function as a shield against the rapid technological advances of the modern world would not have been reasonable (…) In this day and age, even with public utilities, investors must always be wary of new forms of competition arising from technological developments (…) It is not the court’s function to adjust the competing political and economic interests disturbed by the introduction of Uber-type apps.”