AirBnb Spending $8 Million to Fight Bay Area Rules Restricting Rentals - And Demanding Data About Them

This is a fight as old as the West. In the Broadway musical "Oklahoma!" the lyrics to one refrain allowed that 'the farmer and the cowboy should be friends." But it was never to be - and it never will. Because the issue is about a fundamental disagreement over property rights: as in who can do what with they think is their own - and more to the point, how that is even defined. 

In this case the question covers not just how one can use one's property - but who owns the data about what is being done. That focus has attracted a lot of attention, because in the post-industrial economy, real value may continue to lie in the tangible, but future value hinges on intangible information about the tangible. JL

Biz Carson reports in Business Insider:

Airbnb has vehemently opposed any plan to fork over its data and curb housing nights.
The biggest money in San Francisco politics right now is coming from one company: Airbnb.
The housing rental site has put up more than $8 million to fight a ballot initiative that would put strict restrictions on the city's short term rentals, according to campaign contribution filings.
In comparison, the largest contributor to the opposition's campaign is a hotel labor union that donated $125,000.
That's a lot of money to spend on politicking, even in the tech world — for instance, Google spent $16 million on lobbying the federal government in 2014.
The two sides are battling over Proposition F, a ballot initiative that wants to restrict the number of nights a person can rent out their home and fine companies like Airbnb if they list any rentals not registered with the city. (That's the short version — the full ballot initiative is here, along with a breakdown)
Airbnb has vehemently opposed any plan to fork over its data and curb housing nights. To do so, it's donated $8,148,721 to its committee, the aptly named "San Francisco for Everyone: No on the Home Sharing Ban, Sponsored and Major Funding by Airbnb". 
As of the September 19 funding records, Airbnb had only donated $3.3 million, as shown in the chart below:
SF Ethics Commission
Two subsequent donations in the past week boosted the total to over $8 million.
SFethics.org
SFethics.org
While San Francisco is already plastered in billboards and advertising to say no to Prop F, the committee still has a lot of cash to burn through before November's election. It has only spent $3.6 million so far.
SF Ethics commission
Airbnb, for its part, is happy to pour money into opposing it. It is a threat to its business and in its backyard.
"Our community is committed to defeating Proposition F, an extreme measure that circumvents the short-term rental regulations passed by the Mayor and Board of Supervisors last year," an Airbnb spokesperson told Business Insider. "This measure will hurt San Francisco neighborhood merchants, local tourism and the thousands of middle class people relying on home sharing to help make ends meet."