SAN FRANCISCO A U.S. choose expressed skepticism closer to a
bid with the aid of Airbnb to halt a San Francisco law that imposes fines on
home condo agencies for processing bookings via hosts not registered with the
city.
The case pits San Francisco
leaders towards Airbnb and other allies in the tech enterprise inside the midst
of a housing crisis within the town. neighborhood officers need to maximise tax
series on condominium devices, whilst tech advocates say internet firms should
not be hamstrung by means of myriad neighborhood policies on what they can put
up.
At a hearing in San Francisco federal court on Thursday,
U.S. District choose James Donato said he changed into "concerned"
with Airbnb's position because the San Francisco statute goals handiest
bookings processed via Airbnb, not what the company publishes on its website.
"i'm just suffering with knowledge how this ordinance
inherently requires me as a district court to treat your client as a
writer," Donato stated.
The San Francisco
ordinance calls for Airbnb and similar services to verify that humans booking
quick-term leases on their websites have registered with the city. The services
would face fines of $1,000 every time they system a reserving from an
unregistered host.
Airbnb lawyer Jonathan Blavin said even though the statute
deals with bookings, it might nevertheless force Airbnb to screen the listings
it publishes.
In its lawsuit, Airbnb stated it turned into included with
the aid of the federal Communications Decency Act and can not be held liable
for ensuring hosts have complied with the metropolis's rules. Airbnb has asked
for a courtroom injunction prohibiting the ordinance from taking effect.
The Communications Decency Act, exceeded in 1996, turned
into intended to protect free speech on-line and has considering the fact that
come to be a favourite guard for social media and e-commerce web sites towards
a ramification of court cases. these days, however, some judges have pushed
again on vast interpretations of the law.
Donato expressed issue approximately how Airbnb should
comply with the ordinance with out disrupting its enterprise, and requested an
legal professional for San Francisco
if the metropolis could be willing to delay the ordinance till it developed an
automated device for Airbnb to affirm host registrations quickly.
metropolis legal professional Sara Eisenberg stated she
turned into no longer authorized to comply with such a postpone. She
recommended that Airbnb could adopt a system much like Uber, which calls for
its drivers to add a copy of their drivers license earlier than being allowed
to function on the experience hailing platform.
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