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"Update:\u00A0Uber is fighting back against the impending ban with\u2026a petition. It's already well on the way to its goal of 60,000 signatures.\r\n\r\nOriginal story follows\u2026\r\n\r\nFriday brought good news for Uber in France as a commercial court in Paris refused to hear a lawsuit brought by its competitors that tried to ban its UberPop service, but a new week has brought new problems. The French interior ministry announced today that UberPop will be banned in France from January.\r\n\r\nMinistry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told French TV station iTELE, that a new law regulating taxis and chauffeured cars taking effect in 2015 is more restrictive. On UberPop specifically he said: &amp;quot;Not only is it illegal to offer this service but additionally for the consumer there is real danger.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nUber's French operation\u00A0was fined \u20AC100,000\u00A0in October for fraudulent business practices. A court found it had advertised UberPop as a car pool instead of a paid transportation service. An appeal from Uber is pending.\r\n\r\nThe announcement that UberPop will be banned came as French taxi unions called a one-day protest against Uber, planning to block 260 km of roads around Paris with slow moving motorcades during rush hour.\r\n\r\nLast week, at Le Web, French economic minister Emmanuel Macron, said of Uber: &amp;quot;These startups, they are part of this economy. And it's fine and it's good. But when you speak about driving people, you have to protect people. You have to provide the best possible level in terms of security.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nThe French decision\u00A0follows high profile bans on\u00A0Uber services in India last week.\r\n\r\nUber has yet to comment on the latest twist in its tricky relationship with France.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Ahead of taxi protest, France says UberPop to be banned [Reuters]\r\n\r\nDon't miss:\u00A0\u00A0Uber officially suspends its taxi service in New Delhi"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/apps/2014/12/15/france-bans-uberpop-uber-avoids-another-court-clash-paris/>