Compete with Uber or die, NY judge tells taxi cartel. Medallions don't shield drivers from advancement in technology.

Crain's New York reports:

Taxi interests' lawsuit to stop Uber drivers from answering electronic hails hit a wall last week when a state judge dismissed the case, sending the 80-year-old yellow-cab industry into a tailspin.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Allan Weiss ruled that e-hails are distinct from waving or whistling for rides, which is the exclusive but diminishing domain of taxis. The decision paves the way for Uber and other ride-share apps such as Lyft, Gett and Via to run traditional cabs off the road.

Investors who poured billions of dollars into the city's 13,637 yellow-cab medallions—which only two years ago fetched upward of $1 million apiece—should have known the risks, the judge suggested.

"Any expectation that the medallion would function as a shield against the rapid technological advances of the modern world would not have been reasonable," he wrote. "In this day and age, even with public utilities, investors must always be wary of new forms of competition arising from technological developments." Uber hit the city in 2011 but shifted into high gear in mid-2014, and taxi revenues began to ebb. The plaintiffs, led by four Queens credit unions that lent heavily to medallion buyers, plan to appeal. "In the meantime, however, a catastrophe is unfolding, as an entire industry continues to be illegally destroyed, while elected officials allow it to happen on their watch," their lawyer Todd Higgins said. "It is a stunning abdication of leadership and responsibility that will haunt New York City for years to come."

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of rent-seekers. Sometimes justice does triumph over the monopolists.