Can laws keep up with apps?

Violence erupted in Jakarta, Indonesia after exasperated taxi drivers clashed with motor cyclists operating ride sharing apps such as Uber. According to Reuters taxi drivers began, “pulling them off their bikes and assaulting them,” Taxi drivers from companies such as PT Blue Bird and PT Express began blocking roads with their cars to make it challenging for police to respond quickly. These clashes come after frustrated taxi drivers watched as unregulated apps such as Uber, Go-jek and Grab quickly been making the taxi industry unprofitable. However, this is not an isolated incident, taxi drivers from around the world have been urging lawmakers to regulate these new apps. Some city’s in developed countries have been more successful than others. New York for example is one of the transportation hubs of the western world and is known for its yellow cabbies. However, when Uber moved in and began operating to different standards than the cab industry, taxi drivers had something to say. Now Uber has to adhere to the same driving standards as New York City’s allowing taxi driver to remain profitable. Although not all cities have been so willing to adopt similar policies, some city’s like Tampa and Tallahassee have seen a rapid influx in ride sharing apps flood their counties. However, these cities don’t have the same amount of transportation needs as a condensed city like New York. San Antonio a rapidly growing city is currently suffering growing pains with long traffic jams from an outdated infrastructure. Unlike New York City, San Antonio require Uber and other ride sharing apps to have extensive background and drug testing to the point that Uber found it unprofitable to remain in the city.

Technological innovation will always remain a step ahead of regulation. We are currently in a rapidly growing tech boom where the innovation curve is becoming increasingly steep. Laws at their core are meant to take time so that they are well thought out and correct, but in a blog that I wrote earlier titled, “Artificial intelligence the unknown controversy” shows that tech companies are trying to pump out the most sophisticated technologies in the shortest amount of time possible to stay ahead of competitors. These moves are meant to maximize shareholder profits and keep their companies at the head of technological innovation. How can laws keep up? The European court has just decided on Internet privacy laws for Facebook and its 2016! Governments around the world have drastically underestimated the significance of the internet and its implications. Maybe its because we have lawmakers grew up before the growth of the internet and the tech boom. Regardless of the reason we need lawmakers that are willing to accept their shortcomings in these fields because the decision’s that are made today on technological innovations and society will have a lasting impression on the lives of millennials and future generations.