It's not all sunshine, as sharing start-ups tackle big issues at industry meet-up

By Caitlin McGarry (@Caitlin_McGarry)

EXCERPT: “[Peers] didn’t want this conference to be all sunshine and, ‘The sharing economy is magic and perfect,’” said Janelle Orsi, an attorney who gives legal advice to sharing start-ups at Oakland's Sustainable Economies Law Center, during a Tuesday panel. “We can step back and say, ‘What are the things we haven’t factored into our considerations yet?’”

Bakers who sell home-made sweet potato pies from their homes and struggling city-dwellers who rent out their apartments on Airbnb don’t typically have a lot in common—except in some states their money-making enterprises are considered illegal. Yet the “sharing economy” has become the defining buzz phrase that encompasses Airbnb hosts and food co-operatives, grassroots sharing efforts, and new iPhone apps. When you lump a bunch of people under one banner, that’s bound to create some friction...

Read the entire article on TechHive