business?

They usually have no insurance and the drivers can be quite spotty.

That's why they don't just get a taxi license. It requires commercial coverage.

licenses they give out to protect the drivers' profits.
But as someone that has waited for 3 hours in 30 degree temps for a cab, those taxi driver can burn in hell.

If you use your personal car for commercial purposes, it is true that your insurance company will not cover you.

However, Uber provides its own insurance which applies as soon as an Uber driver takes a fare. Uber drivers are absolutely insured everywhere in the US, just not through their personal insurance.

This isn't related to the "taxi license" issue, which is more complex. Many cities limit the number of taxi licenses that can be issued, and charge a high premium for them. Also, licensed taxis are generally forced to operate at regulated rates.

They kept slashing drivers rates, don't allow tipping, and have screwy software and policies.

Uber now has "financing" they offer would-be drivers that effectively drains the drivers' wallets anyway, condemning them to continue their life of poverty.

http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/04/24/one-uber-drivers-story-how-he-was-trapped-by-auto-loan-program

One can demand that all drivers have insurance, and one can demand that poor driving records result in loss of license. They can even demand that commercial/public conveyance drivers have clean-ish criminal records. Governments can do that, but making it absurdly expensive to obtain certification, a "medallion" or some badge of taxi honor, and requiring stupid shit like The Knowledge in London (when everyone has satellite mapping, either via garmin or phone) is idiotic. It's why there are so many gypsy cab outfits and "car service" companies, where you get a card and your "friend that you pay" comes and picks you up. Uber and Lyft at least bring the whole underground taxi biz out in the open.

to run their cabs so they are essentially being screwed because of Uber.
Now if Uber wants to pay the same costs that the cab drivers and companies have to then fine but otherwise its not right for the city to charge money to the cab drivers but not the uber ones.

Every time I've ridden a cab in Paris, EVERY SINGLE TIME, one of these worthless pieces of garbage has tried to rip me off. Paris cabbies are infamous for offering riders off-meter flat rate rides (which are legal) and then demanding twice the originally requested price when you reach your destination. And since it's off-meter, it's your word against theirs as to how much you agreed to.

There's a REASON why Parisians and tourists prefer Uber to these corrupt dirtbags. Like most criminals, the cabbies are violently attacking innocent people because they are defending their "turf".

Luckily for the rest of us, Paris has a great public transportation system so nobody is forced to take a taxi.

I think a number of cities in the US have gotten Uber banned, but I think it has been accomplished by going through official political channels, lobbying city council, etc. The French way, if it works, gives faster results.