Ticketmaster confronted with lawsuit from Virginia over alleged hiked ticket prices, involvement of scalpers, and automated bots
In a move aimed at protecting consumers, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has announced that the state has joined a lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster LLC. The lawsuit, which also includes Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Utah, alleges that Ticketmaster has not been doing enough to prevent the use of bots to purchase tickets, allowing scalpers to unfairly buy tickets in excess and resell them at higher costs.
Miyares has emphasized that Virginians deserve access to tickets at reasonable prices, as these are often snatched up by bots and brokers for resale. He stated that Ticketmaster should prevent ticket harvesting by brokers and not enable it, as it leads to higher ticket prices for consumers.
The lawsuit alleges that Ticketmaster violated consumer protection laws by illegally surging ticket prices for customers in Virginia. Moreover, it is claimed that Ticketmaster resold these tickets on its own secondary marketplace.
The states are accusing Ticketmaster of turning a blind eye to brokers' illegal ticket harvesting and reselling the tickets for profit. Some of the brokers allegedly created 'hundreds to thousands' of fake accounts to buy tickets.
The FTC is part of the ongoing lawsuit, seeking a permanent injunction to prevent brokers from bypassing a ticket seller's security to purchase tickets and resell them at higher prices. Enforcing the BOTS Act would make it illegal for brokers to use automated software (bots) to purchase tickets and resell them.
It is important to note that the lawsuit does not involve any allegations against Jimmy Kimmel or his show, ABC. A separate news article mentions ABC suspending Jimmy Kimmel's show indefinitely after comments over Kirk assassination, which is not related to the main topic of this article.
The lawsuit is a significant step towards ensuring fair access to tickets for consumers and preventing unscrupulous practices that drive up ticket prices. As the case progresses, it will be interesting to see how Ticketmaster responds to these allegations and whether changes will be made to improve the ticketing process for consumers.
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