To be glad that Uber will not have to pay NMW and holiday pay?

[Twogoats]

www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/28/uber-uk-tribunal-self-employed-status

Even though they plan to appeal?

This could be the start of a slippery slope. If we let one company call their employees 'self-employed', then it could snowball into other industries. I am no fan of Uber, but if they are going to exist, then they should be fair.

perhaps we need new categories of employment to deal with new ways of doing things which dont fit easily into the old employed vs self employed classifications

private car ownership is a very inefficient use of vehicles, most of the time most of them are just sat around idle and taking up space.

I predict that cars with soon be covered with some sort of solar cell, all other surfaces too.
We just need some breakthroughs in battery tech and we'll be able to collect and store energy from various free sources

I predict that cars with soon be covered with some sort of solar cell, all other surfaces too.

And I predict they won't. Not in a production vehicle (you'll always find the odd experiment)

We just need some breakthroughs in battery tech and we'll be able to collect and store energy from various free sources

I'm half a century old, and could have said that previous sentence at any point in the past 40 years, since I got into science. (See also Nuclear Fusion, cure for cancer ...)

I do agree that private car ownership is incredibly inefficient. And a hell of a lot easier to address than pie-in-the-sky battery tech breakthroughs.

Worth noting that the energy transfers required to make batteries more attractive (bigger capacity and quicker charging times) will require **ing big cables, and run a hell of a fire risk.

And I predict they won't
well gosh darnit you big meanie
stop putting a downer on my sci fi fantasy future!
( :o )

How do you think I feel ?

No hover boots, jet packs, or robot butlers .

In fact, all the future appears to have delivered is a slightly more sophisticated digital watch

hehe :o
it's all just around the corner, I can feel it all about to burst out

perhaps we need new categories of employment to deal with new ways of doing things which dont fit easily into the old employed vs self employed classifications

I think the point of the ruling is that you don't need new categories. You just need to correctly apply the existing ones.

I'm a little fed up with the neophiliac tendency to stick "new/sharing economy" all over something in an attempt to say "the rules don't apply to us".

What would help - an awful fucking lot - is if the state bucked it's ideas up, and started reflecting how we live in the 21st century. Instead it seems they think that if they carry on with antiquated systems (and attitudes) we'll somehow revert to the 18th century world they still inhabit (exhibit A is a financial year which doesn't start on the 1st January).

I predict that cars with soon be covered with some sort of solar cell, all other surfaces too.

And I predict they won't. Not in a production vehicle (you'll always find the odd experiment)

Audi A8 has them in the sunroof to power a small blower to keep the interior cool in summer when the car's unoccupied and locked up.

What would help - an awful fucking lot - is if the state bucked it's ideas up

100% agree - we need simplified taxation and employment rules, a much better and cheaper Legal system and much more efficient public services. It might even provide employment.

Audi A8 has them in the sunroof to power a small blower to keep the interior cool in summer when the car's unoccupied and locked up

Well, thats 20W sorted. Just another 99980 to go

More to the point, Uber is dangerous because of their 'the rules don't apply to us' approach. They are able to undercut competition because they often use private cars that do not have the right insurance. They have been able to build up a solid business here in the US to the point where sometimes I have to use them of Lyft because the local taxi firm has contracted.

The public are ignorant about the laws in place that are there to protect them. Here in NJ and NY if you want to drive a taxi you have to go through periodic detailed background checks with the FBI and your local police. Those same checks are not completed by uber for their drivers.

This case was about pushing Uber out of the UK not about employment laws. I don't agree with the judgement but I do agree with the action taken to protect the taxi industry as it currently operates in the UK.