San Francisco wants Lyft/Uber data to determine how much traffic congestion they cause

Brighton Taxi Drivers, Oppose The Arrival Of Uber In The City.... Sky Channel 963 Tonight

Don't forget to tune in to Sky channel 963 tonight at 7:30

The BBC, with assistance from locally based Latest TV company, will be detailing the problems being faced by local Taxi drivers.

The program will be entitled -Brighton Taxi drivers, oppose the arrival of Uber in the City-

Local drivers are claiming that their streets are being overwhelmed by Uber private hire vehicles, the majority of whom are licensed by Transport for London (TfL). The TfL licensed vehicles are also being joined by Uber cars from all over the country.

Because Brighton's licensing enforcement is as bad as London's, local drivers are seriously worried for public.  

BBC Inside Out program goes out tonight at 19:30 on the BBC1 South-East Region (sky channel 963) but will be available immediately after transmission on the BBC iPlayer nationally.

BBC will follow this up with an Inside Out Episode in Manchester, detailing the problem of cross border working in Manchester. 

To be aired Monday Mar 27, at 19:30 hrs

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2nDagCz
via IFTTT

Marks And Spencer Latest Company To Stop Advertising With Google Over YouTube Videos

Google boss apology as M&S becomes latest to suspend ads over hate videos

The world of online advertising can be a dizzying world of acronyms - you start talking about Google advertising, and you end up with GDN, SEO, DSP and DBM all littering the conversation.

But one thing is clear - Google has a problem here.

A serious problem that goes to the heart of what this company does, and what it stands for.

Now, you might imagine that Google would consider itself a huge player in the media world.

Look in the Oxford dictionary and you'll find that "media" refers to "mass communication", and not much can fall into that category more than our social media giants.

YouTube collates a vast amount of information and content and, like Facebook, plays a pivotal role in the way news is consumed around the world.

Over a billion people are regular YouTube users and hundreds of millions of videos - possibly billions, depending on which statistics you believe - are watched every day.

And yet Google says it's not a media company.

It insists it is, instead, solely a technology company, and should be regulated as such.

Source : Sky News 

THATS FUNNY, INSISTING THEY'RE A TECHNOLOGY COMPANY....

WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THAT BEFORE ???

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2neeD6j
via IFTTT

BBC’S INSIDE OUT AND BRIGHTON’S LATEST TV, TO HIGHLIGHT UBER CROSS-BORDER ISSUES

Locally based “Latest TV“  have given excellent coverage of the grave situation in Brighton and Hove with regard to the unacceptable number of Uber vehicles and drivers licensed by Transport for London flooding the City. The Brighton Taxi Trade were impressed with the coverage and approached them again to do a follow up programme of the worsening situation in the City.

This has prompted BBC's "Inside Out " to do a feature (with Latest TV’s assistance) chronicling the issues on the streets of Brighton with the BBC titling it, ‘…Brighton Taxi drivers, oppose the arrival of Uber in the City…’.

What we are seeing in Brighton & Hove is a “race to  the bottom” with local safety based conditions and geographical knowledge being undermined by Uber vehicles and drivers licensed where it is cheapest and easiest to do so. Brighton & Hove is littered on a daily (and nightly) basis with a flood of out of area vehicles, predominantly Transport for London (TfL) ‘Minicabs’ being ‘operated’ by Uber.

This together with a “liquorice all-sorts” style mixture of other Uber vehicles from all over the Country, the “most distant” being vehicles and drivers from South Cambridgeshire. 

With TfL’s historic casual ‘laissez-faire’ attitude to enforcement in Brighton, who can be sure exactly who is driving these vehicles and/or whether they are actually licensed, properly insured, roadworthy or even safe!!!

BBC’s Inside Out and Brighton’s Latest TV Highlight UBER Cross-border Issues: 

BBC Inside Out airs at 19:30 on Monday 20th March 2017 on the BBC1 South-East Region (sky channel 963) but will be available immediately after transmission on the BBC iPlayer nationally.

Apart from contributions in the programme from amongst the Brighton Trade, Unite and GMB unions, there is also contribution and comment from the London & Southend taxi trades.

Source : Cab Trade News. 

Also, keep an eye out for the Channel 4 Dispatches program, who will be highlighting the security risk at St Pancras, where TfL are turning a blind eye to Private Hire openly touting. 

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2n13epC
via IFTTT

Advertising giant drops Google in storm over extremist and anti-Semitic videos

Update on Google Advertising Scandal :

Advertising giant drops Google in storm over extremist videos

One of the world's largest advertising agencies has pulled all of its UK clients from Google because of its failure to prevent adverts appearing next to extremist content, following exclusive revelations in The Times

This video by Evalion, a baby-faced Canadian blogger, was removed when her YouTube channel was shut down. Her clips can be found elsewhere, however. She says in the footage: “Behind every major problem you find Jewish people”

YouTube and its parent company Google have been accused of continuing to host thousands of anti-Semitic hate videos in defiance of their own guidelines, as the UK government announced it was withdrawing advertising from the global video-sharing giant.

French advertising agency Havas,  one of the world’s largest marketing groups, pulled hundreds of UK clients out of Google’s advertising network Friday after revelations in theTimes newspaper that taxpayers and commercial brands were unknowingly funding extremists through adverts. Dozens of other brands have also allegedly withdrawn their business while Havas said it was also considering a global freeze on YouTube and Google ads.

Video Google Highlights ‘Offensive’ Search Results

The Times found adverts were appearing alongside content from supporters of extremist groups, making them around £6 per 1,000 viewers, as well as making money for the company.

The Times has now revealed why the commercial retreat from YouTube has gathered pace with its analysis showing that more than 200 anti-Semitic videos are hosted on YouTube. In selective cases, the offensive videos were uploaded years ago and have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. Some even hosted advertising, suggesting anti-Semites may be enjoying a commercial advantage from perceived association with well-known brands, the newspaper reports.

Content of the videos varied, but relied on common themes that claimed Jews start global conflicts for profit, or perpetuate the ancient blood libel that Jews kill Christian children while keeping others as slaves. Holocaust denial is another thematic variation.

A spokeswoman told the Times: “Google believes in the right for people to express views that we and many others find abhorrent, but we do not tolerate hate speech. We have clear policies against inciting violence or hatred and we remove content that breaks our rules or is illegal when we’re made aware of it.”

Google does not actively look for hate content on YouTube. Instead its policy is to wait for users to flag it up. It said that with 400 hours of video uploaded every minute, it would be impossible to proactively police.

Meanwhile the BBC reports the UK government has removed its adverts from YouTube amid concerns they are appearing next to “inappropriate” material. In one case, Metropolitan Police promotions appeared alongside Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic organisation calling for the establishment of a global caliphate under Sharia law, which is banned in many countries.

The Cabinet Office said it was seeking assurances from YouTube’s owner Google that its messages would be displayed in a “safe and appropriate way” in future. The Guardian newspaper, broadcaster Channel 4 and the BBC itself have also pulled ads citing similar worries over grossly offensive material.

During a recent appearance before the Commons Home Affairs Committee, executives from Facebook, Twitter and Google were told they had a “terrible reputation” for dealing with problems and censured for not policing their content more effectively, given the billions they made.

Yvette Cooper MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

“We’ve seen too many cases of vile online hate crimes, harassment or threats where social media companies have failed to act.

“It cannot be beyond the wit and means of multi-billion dollar social media companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google to develop ways to better protect users from hatred and abuse. They have a duty to do so. We will be asking the companies about specific cases, why they didn’t act, and what they intend to do about it now.”

In response, Google is now directing its review teams to flag content that might come across as upsetting or offensive in search results.

As Breitbart Tech reported, the review teams – comprised of contractors known as “quality raters” – already comb through websites and other content to flag questionable items such as pornography. Google added a new category, “upsetting-offensive,” in its guidelines for quality raters. For example, content with “racial slurs or extremely offensive terminology” could now get flagged as such

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2nkFqOB
via IFTTT

Sadiq Khan and George Osborne's unlikely friendship

Another Serious Sexual Assault In A Minicab, This Time At St Pancras Drop Off.

More breaking news just in as we hear that a young lady has been assaulted in the back of a minicab -sporting blacked out windows- in the drop off bay at St Pancras Station on Pancras Road. 

This attack can be clearly attributed to the lack of enforcement from our woefully inadequate regulator, TfLTPH. The monster they've created needs enforcement morning, noon and especially at night. Not just for a few minutes every so often. 

But then TfL have always turned their back and denighed the escalation of sexual assaults, they have even massaged statistics to cover up their failure. What the public should understand most of all -according to Susie Lamplugh trust- only 10% of sexual attacks are reported to police. 

Marshals, More Harm Than Good ?

Many drivers feel that powerless marshals supplied for a few hours every week, do more harm than good. 

It's alleged this gives TfL an excuse to avoid the worst affected areas. 

I have personaly experience jobs being held back for other Taxis. 

Many times we've seen marshals taking up much needed space on the ranks they are marshalling, with a Taxis having then to over rank. 

Since the Mayfair ranks have been marshalled over the weekends, operation neon officers have all but disappeared and touting has increased. 

We all knew that yesterday's highly visual display at St Pancras by 8 compliance officers, was no more than a knee jerk reaction to Wednesday's blockade, organised by the Independent Taxi Alliance  and Dads Defending Daughters. 

We all know from past experience that this sudden show of force won't be comprehensive and certainly wouldn't be permanent. Public safety deserves preventative measures not reactive after thoughts. 

Taxi Leaks has campaigned for years to get blacked out windows banned in private hire vehicles, as it's felt by many rape support groups that th restricted view actually facilitates in-vehicle sexual assaults.

Other news from this week:

Hostilities have suddenly escalated between Ajit Chambers and LTDA general secretary Steve McNamara. 

In statement on Twitter yesterday, Ajit alleged that while in a telephone conversation, Steve McNamara said "if Black cab drivers don't like the situation with Uber, they can get another job".

An hour later, the LTDA twitter feed anonymously posted a single word reply.

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2n7RKBn
via IFTTT