Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:40:00 PDT Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090825/0453005994.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090825/0453005994.shtml upset about free competition. Some smart business folks had setup local transportation options, that subsisted on advertising and tips, rather than fares, and thus were able to avoid having to buy a (sold out) taxi cab license. But, of course, the existing cabbies freaked out and complained, and convinced the city council to declare that the free cabs had to buy licenses as well... while conveniently noting that none are available. Basically, the cab drivers got the city council to drive this competition out of town.

But, now there's a bit of a twist. A bunch of folks have sent in the news that one of the guys who pushed the city council the hardest has now suddenly set up his own free shuttle offering in place of the competition that was run out of town. He makes no qualms about the fact that he's copying the idea of the shuttles he just knocked out of business, saying they had a good idea -- he just didn't like the fact that they didn't have to buy a taxi license. Neat trick, huh? Get the government to drive your competitors out of town, and then copy their best ideas.

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]]> regulatory-capture http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090825/0453005994 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:22:00 PDT Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090813/1814005872.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090813/1814005872.shtml outlaw new competitors in the form of free ad-supported transportation from some owners of electric vehicles. Like so many cities, Tampa Bay's cab system operates on a license system, which the city and the existing cabbies work closely to limit, and do make sure prices remain artificially high. However, the free electric vehicles had thought they got around this by noting that the permit system only applied to cabs for hire. Since they weren't charging, they weren't covered. Until now.

EEJ alerts us to the news that Hillsborough County transportation officials have announced that the free electric vehicles need to get permits as well -- except, oh by the way, there aren't any available. Too bad. At least one of the electric vehicle operators plans to go to court to fight this, but it may be an uphill battle. While the officials are hiding behind "safety" claims, the truth is that it's a typical move of regulatory capture by the cab companies, limiting competition so they can keep their prices artificially high and avoid any sort of business model innovation.

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]]> competition-is-bad http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090813/1814005872 Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:39:49 PDT Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090625/0207255356.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090625/0207255356.shtml free transportation services using electric vehicles. The operators of these vehicles make their money by wrapping the cars in ads and accepting tips. Other than that, the ride is free.

But... wouldn't you know it? Local cabbies are pissed off and demanding regulations to stop this sort of competition. Rather than coming up with better ways to compete, they feel the need to run to the government and get protectionist help. Doesn't this sound familiar? Amusingly, it's actually taxi regulations that have created some of this problem in the first place. At least one of the electric car owners notes that he approached the city about getting a license, but he was denied, because of the artificial scarcity the city places on cabs via such regulations (which help keep the cost of a cab ride artificially high). But... the loophole is that the regulations only apply to hired transportation. If the transportation itself is "free" then there are no regulations.

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]]> it's-called-competition http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090625/0207255356