Sojung Lim | The Verge

Uber CEO among 30 charged with operating illegal taxi ring in South Korea

2015-03-18T03:36:45-04:00

Thirty people associated with Uber’s operation in South Korea have been charged on suspicion of operating illegal taxi services in the country, Seoul police said this week. Among their number are Uber Korea’s brand manager, the heads of six different car rental companies, and a number of drivers. Yonhap News says the people are suspected of connecting passengers with nearby drivers through the UberTaxi app without a license.

Additionally, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was booked on suspicion of conducting illegal business. The charge is the second leveled against Kalanick — the Uber boss was indicted without physical detention in December last year for operating an illegal taxi service in the country. Kalanick has so far refused to enter Korea to stand trial, but a police official told Yonhap News that he was to be sent an official summons soon for further investigation into the case. “If Kalanick continues to disobey the summons,” the official said, “we plan to seek an arrest warrant against him.”

Uber suspended its services in South Korea earlier this month

ZDNet says that authorities also took 432 items as evidence, including handsets that Uber Korea distributed to its drivers. An Uber South Korea spokesperson said that the firm has been cooperating with the police fully, but denied any wrongdoing. The Verge has contacted Uber South Korea for further comment.

Police say that because Uber doesn’t screen its drivers or insure its cabs, the service poses a risk for its users. Seoul city officials announced plans to ban the service in July last year, and earlier this month, the company took the step of suspending its Uber X ride-sharing platform in the country. Uber vowed to come back, but the road ahead is tough. Seoul District Police said that the ride-sharing service was banned because it disturbed the entrenched cab industry and because without proper laws in place, the company could get away without paying tax — both obstacles that will be tricky for Kalanick’s company to shift.

Uber won me over with its free rides in Seoul

2015-02-27T09:49:44-05:00

Uber has been causing controversy in Seoul, South Korea, since it launched in October of last year. The local government is claiming that UberX vehicles are not legally authorized taxis, even inciting locals to tattle on Uber drivers who could then be fined 1 million KRW (about $900). In response, Uber now allows free travel on up to 30 UberX journeys, costing 30,000KRW (about $27) or less. No end date for the free promotion has been announced.

The local government claims that Uber drivers are breaking the law by operating as an illegal taxi service. Uber representative In-Ang Park tells The Verge that the company wants to work with the local government to find an amicable solution. “Uber launched UberX with the expectation that Seoul would be supportive and legalize ride-sharing in keeping with its sharing economy vision,” said Park. “But the reality was not what we expected, and so we need to take active steps to work with the city to find a way forward. We hope the city will accept this move.”

“Switching off the fare brings us within the law.”

Uber hopes the decision to make UberX rides free will keep them in line with regulations defined by Seoul’s local authorities. “The important thing,” says Park, “is that switching off the fare brings us within the law. We are continuing the dialogue with the city on a future path.” Park said that the company will continue paying drivers and emphasized that it will also cover their expenses in full.

Even before I had heard about the free promotion, I received a 20,000KRW (about $20) credit on Uber for my first ride. I wasn’t sure, but a friend strongly suggested that I at least try it. After all, it would be deducted from my credit, and it had just started to rain. I used the Uber app to reserve an UberX vehicle near me and waited five minutes for it to arrive. Normally I can just walk outside and hail a cab, but since it was raining I had to call a taxi company which takes longer. And if no taxis are available, I have to call another company. It’s not much more complicated but sometimes it takes longer.

My receipt for 0KRW

The ride was pleasant as the driver didn’t talk at all, letting me ride in silence with rain drops gently knocking on the windows of the back seat. As I hopped off at my destination, I was surprised to see that the price of the ride was 0KRW. I checked my credit, and the 20,000KRW was still there.

I hurried inside a nearby cafe and opened Twitter to see my friends tweeting about free UberX rides. My free journey occurred around five hours before the promotion was even supposed to start, so out of curiosity I took another UberX ride back home to talk with another Uber driver.

On my return journey I had a short conversation with the driver regarding what the promotion meant for him in terms of income. He told me that Uber drivers normally get paid more than a regular taxi job in Seoul, and during the promotion they will be paid an incentive on top of their regular payment.

I will probably reserve an UberX ride from now on

As a first-time Uber customer, everything was perfect. Maybe I was lucky to have a car nearby where I was, but I was able to get both UberX rides in less than five minutes. I didn’t have to rummage through my bag to look for my wallet and wait for the driver to take my credit card, swipe it, and then wait for the receipt. I only had to say goodbye.

In the end it’s up to the passengers to decide if ride-sharing is useful or not. Based on my experience as a taxi addict, I will probably reserve an UberX ride from now on. Of course, that’s exactly the kind of reaction this campaign is meant to inspire, making it that much harder for the government to ignore the people of Seoul and shut Uber down.

Linknotize card game tests your Wikipedia skills to link unrelated topics

2015-02-05T08:14:05-05:00

Traditional board and card games have never been more involved than when played with the accompaniment of a phone. Linknotize is a card game that asks you to use your phone or tablet to click your way between two unrelated topics until you connect them. Simply put, you roll the dice, select two topics, set the timer for three minutes and start clicking through Wikipedia. It’s like six degrees of separation, the theory that everything is at most six or fewer steps from the point of origin, except it’s up to you to connect those dots, the fewer dots the better.

For example, how would you connect Tom Brady and Bill Gates? Easy: Tom Brady to NFL to Seattle Seahawks to Paul Allen to Bill Gates. But can you do it fast, and can you do it by only clicking in-article links in Wikipedia or your favorite online encyclopedia? Here’s how to get from Abraham Lincoln to the topic Broadway Theater:

It’s similar to Game of Phones that we covered on Top Shelf but looks to be a cleverer take that plays a lot better. Linknotize costs $24.99 and could be the ideal game if you and your friends are the types of people enamored by this new class of hybrid gaming.

This quadrant explains why Drive is such a stylish film

2015-02-03T07:24:36-05:00

Tony Zhou’s masterful “Every Frame a Painting“ series returns to take on Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 film starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, once described by the late Roger Ebert as “an elegant exercise in style.”

Zhou shows how the film comes “alive” by taking a few scenes and dividing them into quadrants, demonstrating how Refn uses an otherwise conventional storytelling tool to do unconventional things. Shots that split the actors left and right help tell two different stories at the same time. Splitting top to bottom helps the characters show their inner feelings through gestures and fidgeting in a way that faces and dialogue can’t. The effect makes Drive predictable and unpredictable at the same time, and stands in stark contrast to the geometric perfection of Wes Anderson films.