A Victory in D.C.

Travis Kalanick's Uber helps city dwellers get rides on demand in luxury cars, and he wants to launch a cheaper service, one closer in price to taxis. But Washington, D.C., Councilmember Mary Cheh proposed a law that would have imposed a price floor on such services -- and effectively prohibited the new service.

So Kalanick fought back: He called on customers to email the D.C. Council -- and one council member said he got 5,000 emails about the issue.

Cheh dropped her bill, at least for now.

"We brought a real thunder in 18 hours ," Kalanick said. But he also said he would wait to see the eventual fate of the bill before launching the new service, which his company already offers in New York and San Francisco, in Washington.

The victory, however, is incomplete. Another bill was introduced to create special regulations for Uber in D.C. -- a new regulatory niche, without a price floor -- and Cheh plans another hearing later this year . In any event, regulatory niches are always subject to change . For real freedom and real security, you need rights.

For a previous case of successful resistance in D.C., see D.C. Regulators Back Down from Crackdown on Secondhand Stores .

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