Any good book recommendations? I just finished Red Notice by Bill Browder which was fantastic.

> China has done far more egregious transgression to be sanctioned for than Russia

Do you have any data to support this claim? Having just read Bill Browder's Red Notice I find that to be a questionable statement.

On Russia, Bill Browder's book Red Notice does an exceptional job of going into detail describing what you mention. It is really quite special.

I picked up Red Notice from the "library" at a resort in Chile last September for the flight home. What an awesome story. I learned a ton reading it and the book reads like fiction even though it is factual. Highly recommended.

No, this is NOT a paternalistic attitude towards drivers. It is the observation of their numerous complaints, lawsuits, and behaviour (typically quitting after only a few months).

What you are saying is (or requires) that all people and companies are completely free agents with perfect knowledge. The fact is that there is an information asymmetry between Uber and the drivers, which Uber not only exploits but systematically lies into -- they make false representations about the economics of driving, convincing drivers to make investments in what looks like a good business opportunity.

So yes, the hopeful drivers "perceive it as being the best option available to them". Some figure it out and never sign up, others do not and get screwed.

It is apparently irrelevant to you that this perception is not based in reality but is due to Uber's deliberate and systematic dishonesty.

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No, it is not scaremongering. Uber is not a form of Civil disobedience. And, if you are arguing that any law should be breakable at any time by anyone, then the only consequence of that is that laws become meaningless.

People being able to engage in voluntary economic interactions outside of the context of a lawful societal structure leads EXACTLY to economic warlordism. Power will rapidly become concentrated in the small group of most unethical players, and they will rule the economy.

See Russia, which is basically ruled by 22 Oligarchs. and this started where every single Russian citizen was given stock certificates for ownership in state enterprises. Yet in only a few short years, only 22 had the power. Moreover, the apparent rule of law is a farce. Read Red Notice by Bill Browder to get an insight into how it worked.

And yes, the proper place of the law IS to restrain voluntary economic interactions so as to maintain a balanced marketplace, avoid the Tragedy Of The Commons, and other benefits to the broader society in which the economic transactions occur and which enables them in the first place.

Get your head our of the simplistic Libertarian ideals which you spout (I start with Libertarianism too, but it isn't the end...), and read some history and Systems Dynamics.

"Businessman Bill Browder knew a thing or two about how to make millions in Vladimir Putin's Russia. But even he didn't know just how brutal the price of business could be amongst the Kremlin's cronies. Bill Browder recounts the brutal tale of his own lawyer's torture and death and his quest to bring justice to bear on the new Russian bear.

"The 2013 trial of Sergei Magnitsky in Russia was such an example of the theatre of the absurd, that it's since been turned into theatre itself.

"Mr. Magnitsky, a lawyer who worked for a Western businessman, was imprisoned by Russian authorities - and was tortured to death. Only then - after his demise - was he put on trial.

"The co-defendant in that trial is still very much alive today. He's businessman Bill Browder, and Sergei Magnitsky was his lawyer.

"The story is all told in his new book, 'Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man's Fight for Justice.'"

Having read Red Notice, I strongly suspect the plot is much thicker than a simple copyright violation. The fact that NGINX now runs the majority of web traffic would be a clear signal to the Russian oligarchs that this NGINX is a valuable commodity to control and Sysoev needs to be moved aside. I'm guessing they don't have a deep understanding of BSD licensing terms, but they understand the value of controlling the contributors, and the log files.