Sharing... or Stealing: Claims Uber uses self-driving technology stolen from Google referred to US attorney

[John Newman]

> On May 12, 2017, at 1:20 PM, Razer <g2s at riseup.net> wrote:
> 
> The "sharing" biz in 'Merica has the ethics of a thief. Not that
> stealing form Google might be a bad thing, but the fact that BILLIONAIRE
> VENTURE CAPITALISTS allow to happen in companies they fund and sit on
> the boards of is telling about what they do to the financial markets
> they infest as well (Btc too!).
> 
> Judge refers theft allegations against Uber to US Attorney
> 
> http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article150112332.html
> 
> See: "Timeline: Bad news keep piling on for troubled Uber"
> 
> 
>> Uber has had a rough year, much of it its own making.
>> 
>> There have been lawsuits, allegations of sexual harassment and a
>> federal investigation into claims that it has used a fake version of
>> its app to thwart authorities. Now, a federal judge in San Francisco
>> has referred allegations of trade secret theft to the U.S. Attorney's
>> office for investigation.
>> 
>> Here's a timeline of some of Uber's troubles in recent months.
>> 
>> — Feb. 2: Amid mounting pressure from employees and calls for boycott
>> from customers, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick quits President Donald
>> Trump's council of business leaders.
>> 
>> — Feb. 19: A former Uber engineer, Susan Fowler, discloses a slew of
>> sexual harassment and sexism claims in a blog post about her year at
>> Uber. She wrote that on her first official day on her team at Uber,
>> her boss propositioned her in a string of messages on the company
>> chat, and higher-ups ignored her complaints. She outlined examples of
>> blatant sexism at Uber that was seemingly tolerated by the company.
>> Kalanick called what she described "abhorrent."
>> 
>> — Feb. 23: Waymo, a self-driving car company spun off from Google,
>> sues Uber . Waymo alleges that Anthony Levandowski — a former top
>> manager for Google's self-driving car project and now the executive
>> running Uber's self-driving car division — stole pivotal technology
>> propelling Uber's effort to build autonomous vehicles.
>> 
>> — Feb. 28: A video emerges of CEO Travis Kalanick arguing with a
>> driver. It includes yelling and profanity and ends with a combative
>> Kalanick dismissing the agitated driver's claims that sharp reductions
>> in fares forced him into bankruptcy. In the video, Kalanick shouts
>> that "some people don't like to take responsibility for their own
>> s---. They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good
>> luck." He then slams the door.
>> 
>> — March 3: A New York Times report reveals that the company has been
>> wielding a secret weapon to thwart authorities who have been trying to
>> curtail or shut down its ride-hailing service in cities around the
>> world. One project, called "Greyball," identified regulators who were
>> posing as riders while trying to collect evidence that Uber's service
>> was breaking local laws governing taxis.
>> 
>> — March 19: Uber's president, Jeff Jones, resigns less than a year
>> after joining the company. He told the tech blog Recode that "the
>> beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are
>> inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber, and I can no
>> longer continue as president of the ride-sharing business."
>> 
>> — April 12: Uber's head of communications, Rachel Whetstone, is the
>> latest to leave the company .
>> 
>> — April 27: Levandowski announces he is stepping aside (though staying
>> at the company), while Uber defends itself against charges that he
>> provided Uber's self-driving project with technology stolen from Waymo.
>> 
>> — May 5: Reports emerge of an audit report by the city of Portland,
>> Oregon, which reveals that the Justice Department is probing
>> allegations that Uber used the Greyball software to try to stymie
>> authorities.
>> 
>> — May 11: A federal judge in San Francisco refers allegations that
>> Uber is using trade secrets stolen from Waymo autonomous car to the
>> U.S. Attorney's office for investigation.
> 
> http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article150173372.html
> 
> Rr
> 
> Ps to those who say "How WILL I get around without Uber?"
> 
> Take a taxi... Meet someone whose not like you, schmuck.
> 
> 

Or *gasp* take a bus, or metro/subway (should your town have one).  
I commute everywhere on the metro, more or less.