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Notes -
The Uber thing isn’t even as clever as you’re describing. At least in New York the rule was you couldn’t do flag stops unless you were a “taxi.” But you could always call someone and arrange a pickup. Uber is that with an app instead of a catchy commercial and a memorable phone number.
There are additional rules for livery car services beyond the requirement to book in advance - notably that people driving commercially should have commercial insurance. My understanding was that Uber initially ignored these rules in NYC but eventually ended up complying.
London was a slightly unusual case in that our minicab law was sufficiently flexible that Uber decided to comply from day 1. For the same reason, there was a healthy ecosystem of minicab apps before Uber arrived. Uber outcompeted them on price and convenience by being willing to lose money hand-over-fist. Now that Uber are making a (tiny) operating profit, they have the same prices as traditional minicab firms.
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