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*We are subject to regulatory inquiries, litigation, and other disputes, |
which have materially adversely affected and could materially adversely |
affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.* |
We have been, and expect to continue to be, a party to various legal and |
regulatory claims, litigation or pre-litigation disputes, and |
proceedings arising in the normal course of business. The number and |
significance of these claims, disputes, and proceedings have increased |
as our company has grown larger, the number of bookings on our platform |
has increased, there is increased brand awareness, and the scope and |
complexity of our business have expanded, and we expect they will |
continue to increase. |
We have been, and expect to continue to be, subject to various |
government inquiries, investigations, audits, and proceedings related to |
legal and regulatory requirements such as compliance with laws related |
to short-term rentals, long-term rentals, and home sharing, tax, |
escheatment, consumer protection, pricing and currency display, |
advertising, discrimination, data sharing, payment processing, data |
14 |
privacy, data security, cancellation policies, and competition. In many |
cases, these inquiries, investigations, and proceedings can be complex, |
time consuming, costly to investigate, and require significant company |
and also management attention. For certain matters, we are implementing |
recommended changes to our products, operations, and compliance |
practices, including enabling tax collection, tax reporting, display of |
Host registration numbers, and removal of noncompliant listings. We are |
unable to predict the outcomes and implications of such inquiries, |
investigations, and proceedings on our business, and such inquiries, |
investigations, and proceedings could result in damages, large fines and |
penalties, and require changes to our products and operations, and |
materially adversely affect our brand, reputation, business, results of |
operations, and financial condition. In some instances, applicable laws |
and regulations do not yet exist or are being adopted and implemented to |
address certain aspects of our business, and such adoption or change in |
their interpretation could further alter or impact our business and |
subject us to future government inquiries, investigations, and |
proceedings. |
We have been involved in litigation with national governments, trade |
associations and industry bodies, municipalities, and other government |
authorities, including as a plaintiff and as a defendant, concerning |
laws seeking to limit or outlaw short-term and long-term rentals and to |
impose obligations or liability on us as a platform. In the United |
States, we have been involved in various lawsuits concerning whether our |
platform is responsible for alleged wrongful conduct by Hosts who engage |
in short-term rentals. Claims in such cases have alleged illegal hotel |
conversions, real estate license requirements, violations of municipal |
law around short-term occupancy or rentals, unlawful evictions, or |
violations of lease provisions or homeowners'association rules. Legal |
claims have been asserted for alleged discriminatory conduct undertaken |
by Hosts against certain guests, and for our own platform policies or |
business practices. Changes to the interpretation of the applicability |
of fair housing, civil rights, or other statutes to our business or the |
conduct of our users could materially adversely impact our business, |
results of operations, and financial condition. We may also become more |
vulnerable to third-party claims as U.S. laws such as the Digital |
Millennium Copyright Act ("MCA", the Stored Communications Act, and the |
Communications Decency Act ("DA", and non-U.S. laws such as the DSA and |
the European E-Commerce Directive and its national transpositions are |
interpreted by the courts or otherwise modified or amended, as our |
platform and services to our Hosts and guests continue to expand, and as |
we expand geographically into jurisdictions where the underlying laws |
with respect to the potential liability of online intermediaries such as |
ourselves are either unclear or less favorable. |
In addition, we face claims and litigation relating to fatalities, |
shootings, other violent acts, illness (including COVID-19), |
cancellations and refunds, personal injuries, property damage, carbon |
monoxide incidents, hidden camera incidents, and privacy violations that |
occurred at listings or experiences during a booking made on our |
platform. We also have had putative class action litigation and |
government inquiries, and could face additional litigation and |
government inquiries and fines relating to our business practices, |
cancellations, and other consequences due to natural disasters or other |
unforeseen events beyond our control such as wars, regional hostilities, |
health concerns, including epidemics and pandemics such as COVID-19, or |
law enforcement demands, and other regulatory actions. |
Notwithstanding the decision of the Court of Justice of the European |
Union ("JEU" on December 19, 2019 ruling that Airbnb is a provider of |
information society services under the E-Commerce Directive, there |
continue to be new laws and government initiatives within the European |
Union attempting to regulate Airbnb as a platform. In several cases, |
national courts are evaluating whether certain local rules imposing |
obligations on platforms can be enforced against us. For example, we are |
challenging laws in various European jurisdictions requiring short-term |
rental platforms to act as withholding tax agent for Host income taxes, |
to collect and remit tourist taxes, and to disclose user data. Adverse |
rulings in these national cases are possible and could result in changes |
to our business practices in significant ways, increased operating and |
compliance costs, and lead to a loss of revenue for us. In addition, the |
DSA came into force in November 2022, and amends certain aspects of the |
E-Commerce Directive to enhance the rules that apply to platforms. |
In addition, in the ordinary course of business, disputes may arise |
because we are alleged to have infringed third parties'intellectual |
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