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Let's face it, being able to buy a concert ticket at a reasonable price pales in comparison to issues like a record state deficit, high unemployment and health care costs. 


Still, in this difficult economy, as families struggle to stretch every dime, we ought to be making sure people can get their money's worth -- without fear of being victimized by greedy ticket scams.  


In recent years, unscrupulous ticket schemes have ripped off Minnesotans at nearly every turn. For high-profile concerts like Bruce Springsteen, Miley Cyrus and most recently 

, consumers have been forced to pay 10, 20, sometimes 40 times the face value of tickets just to get in the door.


Make no mistake: These scams have cheated countless Minnesotans out of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars.  Notably, the ripoffs occurring in this multi-billion dollar industry go way beyond ticket scalping, which was legalized in Minnesota in 2007.  


The first example of one of these scams occurred in 2008 when Miley Cyrus came to the Target Center. Using new "bots" software, cyber-thieves cut ahead of legitimate buyers to the front of the online ticket queue. They bought up virtually all of the tickets and, within minutes, placed the tickets for resale on sites like Craigslist at vastly inflated prices.


In response, Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, and I authored "anti-bots" legislation, outlawing the use of this ticket-buying software. It worked -- at least until a new, unexpected culprit came along.


Tickets sold out in minutes in early 2009 when 


While the Boss is obviously a popular draw, this time it turned out Ticketmaster was hijacking huge quantities of the best tickets, and not making them available to the average fan. 


Though hired to handle the initial sale of Springsteen tickets to the public, the ticket-selling behemoth was secretly redirecting online customers to another of its own Web sites, TicketsNow, which specialized in selling tickets on the resale market at well above face value. The average fan was left holding the bag.


Springsteen fans weren't the only ones ticked off. 

, and sent a letter to frustrated fans rebuking Ticketmaster for taking part in ripping off Minnesota consumers. 

In response to that incident and others like it, we updated our law to prevent the practice from happening again. The bill received nearly unanimous support.


The most recent chapter in the ticket-scamming saga occurred just a few weeks ago, when Taylor Swift tickets went on sale and sold out in less than a minute. Almost instantly, tickets to see the CMA's Entertainer of the Year began showing up on resale Web sites at dramatically inflated prices. 


Preliminary information from Ticketmaster indicates ticket scammers flouted Minnesota law and used "bots" software to jump to the head of the line, buy up huge numbers of Taylor Swift tickets and rip off Minnesota fans. 


Perhaps these cyber-cheats believe being based outside of Minnesota offers them protection. It does not. Minnesota law applies to anyone who commits a crime in Minnesota, in person or online, whether they are in Minnesota or in some faraway place where the streets have no name.


The investigation into this situation is underway. But in short order, Ticketmaster should be able to confirm the details of how and by whom the "bots" software was used to purchase and resell Taylor Swift tickets. When that happens, it is my expectation Ticketmaster will turn the matter over to law enforcement for prosecution. 


Better yet -- and even more effective -- will be when Ticketmaster, having detected the use of "bots" software, denies those illegal sales in the first place.  It is fair for consumers and legislators to expect to see such a move in the near future.


Preventing these ticket ripoffs requires lawmakers to keep state policies a step ahead of cunning cyber-criminals. In today's high-tech world, that's not an easy thing to do. But Minnesota consumers need and expect the Legislature to remain diligent in rooting out these schemes and doing our best to stop them. 


Considering the many challenges facing our state right now, this is not the Legislature's most important task. Still, it is one more thing we can do to ensure that Minnesotans are treated fairly, and that they get their money's worth for every dollar earned in this tough economy. That's an effort worth making.


Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, is a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Gallery

Not fast enough for Swift tickets

Joe Atkins

Author

A decent shot at buying concert tickets at face value shouldn't be too much to ask.

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