[bertil]

I’m a little confused: when Elon Musk skirts the law and dodges local concessions, most comments here argue that he is a pioneer, freeing us from evil; when AirBnB renters do, they are doing something illegal.

Prohibiting any rentals between one night and a month is the result of lobbying, just like automobile concessions: either Y Combinator participants considers that laws can be changed to adapt to new business models, and that the current one (in the US) are the result of business pressures or they are not. Yes, hotels are incredibly less dodgy than car salesmen -- but still ‘illegal’ shouldn’t have a different meaning on similar debate.

[yesiamyourdad]

Worth noting that not everyone is in favor of changing the hotel laws. Neighbors also likely dislike having short term renters. Sometimes lessors are in double violation - city and homeowners association covenants.

[bertil]

Absolutely — just like I’ve personally expressed doubts about not being able to tell limos apart from other cars: as a cyclist, both tend to park at random places; taxis also tend to drive more aggressively and pay less attention to side mirrors, I hope Uber drivers won't ever go that trend.

Taxi rules are not just about signaling trustworthy transporters to users.