France Arrests Entrepreneurs for Crime of Innovation. Is it Any Wonder the Economy Sucks?
CEO of Uber France has been arrested because, uh, his competitors have resorted to violence to defend their inferior product. The fact that the victim rather than the perpetrators of violence is getting arrested speaks volumes to how far governments will go to block innovation that hurts politically-connected incumbents.
After days of violent protests and defiance on the part of Uber's French management, two of the company's employees were taken into custody for "illicit activity" today. Uber France CEO Thibaut Simphal and Uber European GM Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty were arrested for running the company's ride-sharing service illegally. TechCrunch reports the pair is also being held under suspicion of "concealing digital documents." Last week, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve took legal action to shut down UberPOP, the service that employs non-professional drivers to provide rides, in response to protests that blocked key transportation hubs.
... While UberPOP was banned in France earlier this year, an appeals court said it could continue to operate until the final decision was handed down in September.
