
Uber hit with preliminary injunction to stop service in Berlin - Xylakant
http://www.zeit.de/mobilitaet/2014-04/personenbefoerderung-berlin-uber
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Genmutant
It's strange that this took so long, and only in Berlin. If you want to drive
a Taxi in Germany, you need a special driver's license. If you want to open a
taxi company you need to prove that you are reliable and secure. Additionally
you can't refuse a passenger (if there is nothing wrong with them) and can
only charge the tarif the city says (+ additional charges like if it sunday or
at night).

~~~
stef25
Not just Berlin, the same happened in Brussels a couple days ago. We have a
dinosaur of a "transport minister" who decided to ban. Two taxi companies
monopolize the market.

Neelie Kroes then spoke out against this ban:
[https://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/en/content/c...](https://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/kroes/en/content/crazy-
court-decision-ban-uber-brussels-show-your-anger)

~~~
Xylakant
Well, as far as I read the belgian case is about UberPop, the Berlin case
about UberBlack, so that's different.

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merrua
Pretty fair that they blocked it. Its basically an unregulated taxi service.
Also the name is terrible for Germany.

~~~
VMG
> Pretty fair that they blocked it.

Assuming taxi service regulation is fair of course. Taxis are insanely
expensive in Germany.

~~~
raverbashing
" Taxis are insanely expensive in Germany."

What?

In Berlin from SXF to the "city center" it will run around 40€, from TXL,
around 20€ to 30€ depending, and no tip. (Also both airports are served by
public transport)

So, no, they are not insanely expensive compared to other places in Europe
(and even elsewhere)

~~~
schneid
Compared to Britain (not London; I have no experience there), I find taxis in
Germany very expensive.

I would often take a taxi for £3 or £4 half way across a city in the UK, which
would cost more like 15€ in Germany.

~~~
Xylakant
It's a bad argument to compare the prices for one service in two distinct
countries and then imply that the price difference must be due to regulation.
There are a lot of other factors going into the price difference - from fuel
prices, car prices, repairs, to taxes and other differentiating factors.
Prices also always relate to the average cost of living in the area.

The average earning per km in Berlin is somewhere around or below 1,50 EUR
before costs (anecdotal evidences but from a credible source). Nobody really
gets rich from that - not even the cab company.

~~~
joeclark77
I don't think you realize how small a kilometer is! Or how valuable a Euro is
(in terms of real money like dollars). That sounds to me like an incredible
rate of profit.

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Xylakant
Sorry, I couldn't find an english source. Google translate link
[http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=...](http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zeit.de%2Fmobilitaet%2F2014-04%2Fpersonenbefoerderung-
berlin-uber&edit-text=)

It's interesting to note that "Uber" is translated as "About" (über)

\---

Thanks for everyone explaining why Uber translates to about - I'm a german
native. Not knowing that makes the google translate a little hard to read, so
I thought I'd add it for all that don't speak german.

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sdfjkl
"Uber" is really quite a poor brand name for the German market. It either
implies ignorance of the u-umlaut (the correct transliteration of über would
be ueber, not uber), or worse, some very negative associations with Nazi
ideologies (Übermensch and the first line of the Deutschlandlied).

~~~
thmcmahon
What? Umber is just a preposition, it doesn't has nazi overtones. The fact
that it's grammatically incorrect is probably a plus, because it's then less
likely to be confused.

~~~
DasIch
"über" does not always have nazi overtones but as with many other similiar
words in the german language it is definitely tainted with nazi overtones,
which are very obviously present depending on the context in which a word is
used.

If you use "über" to describe something as better in some way, nazi overtones
are very obviously present and if you name a company Uber, it's definitely
implied that you're better than the alternatives.

~~~
voidlogic
>if you name a company Uber, it's definitely implied that you're better than
the alternatives.

Wasn't this the point of the name?

Where I live people use über often and it means pretty much what it means in
German and has no Nazi connotations. (Of course most of our German ancestors
moved here long before WWI)

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DasIch
Of course it's the point but in precisely in this context it has a nazi
overtones because this is how the nazis used it see "Übermensch" or
"Deutschland über alles".

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zenbowman
Good. Lawbreakers should be prosecuted. If the law is unjust, then change the
law for all - don't allow some people to get away with it just because they
are "tech companies" and continue to oppress the rest with the laws.

~~~
marcblackbeard
Yeah, Uber is oppressing the german people by offering a better and cheaper
service to them, they need to go away.

~~~
zenbowman
That's not the point. The point is that if a non-internet taxi company did the
same thing, they'd be in legal trouble.

Even the playing field by lifting restrictions, or apply them evenly.

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peterjancelis
In Brussels Uber (more specifically UberPOP) got banned as well.

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NicoJuicy
Well, the minister of mobility in Belgium also stopped Uber... Neelie Kroes
says she is disappointed because of stopping innovation...

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calibwam
It is always better to attack competition than to become better yourself. -
AT&T, Comcast, etc.

~~~
omnibrain
From all I read Taxi business in Berlin is already a highly competitive market
with low margin and low salaries for the drivers. I think this market does not
need a downward spiral. Granted, my sources (taxi driver blogs) may be biased.

~~~
wyager
> my sources (taxi driver blogs)

So you trust the taxi drivers to tell you if their industry is "competitive
enough"? Brb, I have to go ask comcast if the cable industry is competitive
enough.

There is no such thing as too much competition. Increased competition always
has a net positive effect. Comcast and the taxi industry may suffer, but
society will benefit.

