We don't need to be able to hail yellow cabs with an app, we need to be able to hail black cars with an app. Cabs aren't going to come to BK because they got a text message, they all swarm around Manhattan looking for short fares, but black car services are local and could benefit from easier dispatch and payment.
If you ask me this is the TLC anticipating public demand for the app and stepping in the way of it actually being useful under the guise of playing along.
I think you're probably right, and it's crazy that this is the way things are in NYC. I live in Seattle now (originally from the NYC area) and use Uber extensively. I would be incredibly angry if Seattle tried to pull the same kind of crap that NYC and SF do in regards to black car services like Uber.
Why do New Yorkers think it's acceptable that the NYC Taxi Commission gets to say yay or nay on the app?
Since they're the ones that control the taxis, I don't see why they wouldn't have a say in the matter.