Using your iPhone to auction off a street parking space might sound tech-savvy. In San Francisco, though, it's little more than an illegal racket.
That's the assessment of City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who sent a cease-and-desist letter Monday to MonkeyParking, threatening the Rome-based tech startup with a lawsuit unless it shuts down operations in San Francisco by July 11.
Herrera contends MonkeyParking and two other similar parking startups also facing legal action have built business models entirely premised on illegal transactions - selling access to part of a public street.
S.F. threatens parking app 'MonkeyParking' with lawsuit - SFGate
Preventing the organized private sale of public services is "stifling free speech"?
Can my friends and I occupy public parking spaces and charge money for them?
Preventing the organized private sale of public services is "stifling free speech"?
I see the solution to be make it illegal to do so. Computer link to the apps and send a police officer and arrest or ticket the offenders, to discourage such actions.
You could say that the app folks are providing a conduit for people selling information concerning the availability of a service. So, yeah, to the extent that the city is trying to stop the free exchange of information it is attempting to stifle free speech.
At some point this will be Obamas fault. Or Bush.
There are so many mental gymnastics in this post I thought I was at Cirque du Soleil for a little bit. Does a city stifle free speech when it makes it illegal to advertise prostitution services because prostitution itself is illegal? Of course not. You don't have a right to advertise illegal activities and free speech has nothing to do with it.
Getting paid for telling someone about an available parking spot is hardly equivalent to prostitution.
it is when you occupy the spot until the person with the winning bid shows up.Getting paid for telling someone about an available parking spot is hardly equivalent to prostitution. It shouldn't be criminal in any case.
This is hilarious. The progressives in San Francisco can either stifle free speech or permit the capitalists to hold public parking spots hostage for private gain:
No one said they were. What was stated is that advertising prostitution is illegal for the same reason that advertising a parking spot is illegal.
The purchaser isn't paying for the information, they are paying for the open parking spot.
What the city needs to understand is that the existence of the app says something is wrong somewhere. Perhaps they need to fix the motivation for the app in some way. A free marketplace will adapt to the way things are. Things apparently aren't good.
But its not just information. These spots are being tied up, held by others until the next party arrives. The city has the right to control the access to the parking.You could say that the app folks are providing a conduit for people selling information concerning the availability of a service. So, yeah, to the extent that the city is trying to stop the free exchange of information it is attempting to stifle free speech.
At some point this will be Obamas fault. Or Bush.
If information was all it was, I would agree it should be fine. However, for the system to work, someone has to uselessly tie up the parking spot. In the end... do the math... It makes parking even worse for everyone else.Getting paid for telling someone about an available parking spot is hardly equivalent to prostitution. It shouldn't be criminal in any case.
True, but what would your solution be?What the city needs to understand is that the existence of the app says something is wrong somewhere. Perhaps they need to fix the motivation for the app in some way. A free marketplace will adapt to the way things are. Things apparently aren't good.
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