To consumers, Uber is a lot like a taxicab service and currently operates in over 45 countries and most major cities in the US except for, interestingly, the liberal Portland, Oregon. Fares are generally quite a bit less than a traditional taxi, which makes Uber rather unpopular with the taxi industry.

To Uber’s drivers, who use their own cars to schlep these consumers around, are connected to their passengers via the Uber app, which works on Apple iOS, Android and Windows ...