The ridesharing app agreed to stop illegally operating in Portland, while the homesharing app resists giving the city the name of its hosts.
The ridesharing app agreed to stop illegally operating in Portland, while the homesharing app resists giving the city the name of its hosts.
Portland is now the first city to successfully halt, albeit temporarily, Uber’s aggressive business tactics.
According to a statement from (mayor Charlie) Hales’ office, the mayor will convene a task force to speed up the process of reviewing and updating city rules, which currently prohibit ridesharing services where drivers use their personal vehicles as taxis.
“The City is committed to developing a new regulatory framework that includes innovative transportation network companies,” the statement said.
Read more at OregonLive.com.
Conversely, Airbnb is trying to stop the Portland government from being able to share host information between agencies.
David Owen, a government affairs specialist for San Francisco-based Airbnb, likened it to the National Security Agency mining personal data on Americans from phones and the Internet. The city shouldn’t get “unfettered access” to its hosts’ personal information without getting a court subpoena, Owen testified.
“We want to make sure that someone who occupies a room in a building that you advertise is safe.” responded City Commissioner Nick Fish. “Shame on us if they’re not and something bad happens. We’re complicit and that’s why we have these rules.”
Read more at the Portland Tribune.
