Airbnb Says New York City Subpoena Would Set 'Scary Precedent'
Airbnb Says New York City Subpoena Would Set 'Scary Precedent'
(Bloomberg) -- Airbnb Inc. asked a Manhattan judge to deny New York City’s request for information about listings for seven midtown buildings, saying it sets a "scary precedent" that would allow the city to seek data about thousands of people who share the address of someone posting on the site.
The city sued Airbnb this month, seeking to force it to comply with a subpoena for details about buildings on 47th Street. The petition came days after the City Council voted to require the San Francisco-based company to supply information about its hosts so officials can target those who post illegal listings.
The company said in a court filing Sunday that the request paves the way for the city to issue “sprawling subpoenas" for multiple buildings or large residential buildings having the same address as the Airbnb renter. It also called the city’s request a “a transparent ruse to allow it to file suit against Airbnb as soon as possible to garner press attention.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net
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