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Traditional, professional taxi operators regard U.S.-based Uber,
which allows customers to book and pay for a taxi by smartphone,
as a threat to their livelihoods.
The Danish Uber driver, a male student, was found guilty of
failing to meet legal requirements for driving a taxi, the High
Court of Eastern Denmark ruled, upholding a conviction issued in
July by the Copenhagen City Court.
The High Court said he lacked a permit to drive as an occupation
and his car was not registered or licensed as a taxi.
In July, the driver pleaded innocent and argued he had only
taken part in car-pooling. It was not immediately known whether
he would appeal Friday's verdict to Denmark's Supreme Court.
"We have great respect the Danish system of justice, but are of
course deeply disappointed in the verdict," an Uber spokesman
told Reuters. "There is a growing recognition of the positive
effects of car-pooling, and it is encouraging that modern
legislation is being considered in the (Danish) parliament."
In one of many recent legal rulings against Uber, Finland's
court of appeal ordered two Uber drivers on Sept. 21 to give up
their earnings to the state for not having a valid taxi license.
Earlier this year a French court fined Uber 800,000 euros
($900,000) for running an illegal taxi service with
non-professional drivers and slapped smaller fines on two of its
executives in the first such criminal case in Europe.
Despite the various operating challenges, Uber has become a
highly successful business since its 2009 launch. It is valued
at about $62.5 billion and has investors including Goldman Sachs
[GS.N] and GV, formerly known as Google Ventures [GOOGL.O].
(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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