I'm the absolute last person to think that tech can be trusted to regulate itself for anything. We've seen how companies like Amazon and eBay cater to their power sellers, how social media caters to its advertisers, &c. &c.

It would be delightful if AirBnB were to be the exception, but as Reagan(?) said, "Trust, but verify."

Who does the verifying if we remove local government from oversight?

Yeah I agree.

1. I don't think Airbnb cares to do it at all.

2. It would be a very hard job even if they tried to do it.

It's funny how all the "disruptive" startups have the same basic business model of taking money away from someone who was getting it before (generally local governments, but that cascades to many other people like medallion holders); giving some of that money to the customers and call it a discount, and keeping the rest of it for themselves.

There very much is a pattern there isn't there....

Also wonder how many of them structurally work to disrupt themselves into a sort of untenable situation.

Like can Facebook exist at its scale ... and not sell everyone's data or just behave as it does?

Can gig economy companies exist without grabbing into tips / passing risk off onto delivery people?

I don't know.

Hrm ... ok here's a specific change I'd like to see they have a "neighbors" portal. But if you try to input a complaint it's hard to find a listing nearby and they say

"If you can’t find the listing’s web address, enter the street address and we’ll try to locate the listing. In order to protect our hosts’ privacy, we won’t be able to confirm the existence of any Airbnb listings or follow up with you."

This supports your point and should be changed.

Kind of amusing they hide it that way, seems like a good way to get AROUND any local zoning or anyone to identify folks who are buying up units wholesale to rent them out.