Is Uber about to go public? I'll believe it has won once we see some more numbers.

I am baffled how they operate here in Taiwan. Uber has been declared illegal here. Drivers and passenger are issued fines when caught. Uber fully compensates them. Now the laws are more strict; if a driver is caught 3 times, his license is revoked. Yet there are still 5 cars within 5 minutes of me at any time of day.

I don't understand how that works at all. It does not seem to be a good way to get into the good graces of a country. I wonder how many places Uber operates illegally and pays fines, and how analysts use this to calculate the future value of the company. Do they assume Uber will one day be made legal in all these places? That would boost the valuation but I'm not sure it's accurate.