"Violations of the injunction will result in a fine against Uber of 250,000 euros ($328,108) per ride. Uber plans to appeal the decision and said it would continue offering its services until a final ruling has been made."
Is that an error in judgement on Uber's part? Perhaps they'll settle or get the fine reduced if they remain unsuccessful, but with a fine like that per ride, there is a slim possibility that defying the order could send them out of business, isn't there?
Not sure about German laws, but in many places a court order is not put into effect before the appeals have been dealt with. If and when the appeals are declined, I'm sure they have to shut down business with that kind of fines.
In this case, since it's a court-granted injunction ("Einstweilige Verfügung") an appeal has no delaying effect. The preliminary injunction gets only granted if the court feels that the risk associated with the action in question is sufficiently high to warrant immediate action. IANAL, but from what I know this injunction can be enforced until it's overturned in an appeal.
That's different from the last two bans (Hamburg and Berlin) where Uber was banned by administrative action (Verwaltungsakt). In that case, an appeal has delaying effect until the case gets heard in court.
Is that an error in judgement on Uber's part? Perhaps they'll settle or get the fine reduced if they remain unsuccessful, but with a fine like that per ride, there is a slim possibility that defying the order could send them out of business, isn't there?