So-called ‘sharing economy’ comes under regulatory scrutiny
[Philip Lelyveld comment: There is no question that laws and regulations lag technology developments. But start-ups claiming that regulations "stifle innovation" ignore the reasons that originally justified the regulations (I'm not talking about regulatory creep here) and they completely downplay the unintended consequence of their innovations - which could seriously burn them.]
While the new companies say they are creating jobs by disrupting legacy industries that have fallen behind the technological curve, established industries -- from hotels to taxi cabs -- complain the newcomers are taking unfair competitive advantage and in some cases endangering the public by sidestepping safety, tax and labor rules.
Government agencies, meanwhile, are under mounting pressure both to enforce existing rules and regulations and to update them for new business models that didn't exist five years ago.