NY Times – Airbnb Sues San Francisco Over a Law It Had Helped Pass

June 29, 2016
SAN FRANCISCO — Airbnb executives have often said that officials in San Francisco, the company’s hometown, understood how to work with innovative technology companies. Two years ago, the city and the start-up drafted a law that allowed Airbnb to operate widely there, despite blowback from advocates for affordable housing. The law took effect last February and it became known as the “Airbnb law” for its friendliness to the company. Now Airbnb is suing over whether it should have to help enforce the law that it helped create. The company on Monday sued the city over a unanimous decision made on June 7 by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to fine Airbnb $1,000 a day for every unregistered host who used the service. If the company fails to comply, it may face misdemeanor charges. “Airbnb is challenging a very modest law,” Mr. Campos said. “In so doing, Airbnb is proving that it wants to play by its own rules, that it believes that it is entitled to something no business has, absolute freedom to operate free of responsibility and oversight. It’s their way or the highway.”…
Source: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/technology/airbnb-sues-san-francisco-over-a-law-it-had-helped-pass.html