Uber CEO Indicted in South Korea Over Its Taxi Service

&gt; “Uber does not believe it is appropriate for authorities to seek to punish drivers who are trying to make a living through this service,” Uber said in today’s e-mail.<p>Uber needs to slow down the spin. It might work in metros in the US, but it&#x27;s not going to work in Seoul.

&gt; &quot;worries over the safety of consumers&quot;<p>Can&#x27;t consumers decide what their safety requirements are? If they prefer a different service, for safety reasons, can&#x27;t they just use that service instead?

The issue goes beyond the technology and law. It&#x27;s more about the culture of place where Uber operates in. Making a living as a taxi driver in Seoul is different from how it is to do the same in San Francisco. Consumers have different expectations and are wary about different safety issues.<p>This must be true for each country. I don&#x27;t think Uber can pervade the entire globe as much as facebook or google. Each place will lag but eventually come up with their own version of Uber that has better understanding of their locale. I think it&#x27;s different from how people wish to have the same McDonald&#x27;s experience across the globe. And there is no economy of scale by operating in two very difference places. Consumers in Seoul do not benefit from Uber&#x27;s operation in San Francisco. Perhaps there is economy of scale in developing the technology, but not in operations.<p>Uber is the pioneer but is not meant to take over the entire globe.

&gt; &quot;[...]from next week will offer rewards of as much as 1 million won ($905) to people who provide information on Uber’s services. &quot;<p>&gt; &quot;The maximum penalty for Uber’s alleged legal violation is a two-year prison sentence or a fine of as much as 20 million won[...]&quot;<p>Can anyone clarify this for me?<p>I read it as two years in prison or pay a 20.000$ fine. The difference between two years in prison and 20.000$ seems very large to me. It seems slightly illogical to me if this is the case.

&quot;...will offer rewards of as much as 1 million won ($905)...&quot;<p>&quot;The maximum penalty for Uber’s alleged legal violation is a two-year prison sentence or a fine of as much as 20 million won...&quot;<p>So the fine would be at most ~$20,000. That seems low compared to 2 years in jail!

To anyone who knows more about law, is it legally&#x2F;morally justifiable to hold individual executives liable for company tactics to this extent? Why don&#x27;t they just ban&#x2F;fine the company instead?