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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday November 14 2017, @08:22AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-wonder-I-couldn't-get-tickets dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

When Adele fans went online to buy tickets to the pop superstar's world tour last year, they had no idea what exactly they were up against.

An army of tech-savvy resellers that included a little-known Canadian superscalper named Julien Lavallée managed to vacuum up thousands of tickets in a matter of minutes in one of the quickest tour sellouts in history.

The many fans who were shut out would have to pay scalpers like Lavallée a steep premium if they still wanted to see their favourite singer.

An investigation by CBC/Radio-Canada and the Toronto Star, based in part on documents found in the Paradise Papers, rips the lid off Lavallée's multimillion-dollar operation based out of Quebec and reveals how ticket website StubHub not only enables but rewards industrial-scale scalpers who gouge fans around the world.

CBC News obtained sales records from three U.K. shows that provide unprecedented insight into the speed and scale of Lavallée's ticket scam.

Despite a four-ticket-per-customer limit, his business snatched up 310 seats in 25 minutes, charged to 15 different names in 12 different locations.

The grand total? Nearly $52,000 worth of tickets at face value.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/paradise-papers-stubhub-1.4395361


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  • (Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday November 15 2017, @03:04AM (1 child)

    by arslan (3462) on Wednesday November 15 2017, @03:04AM (#597118)

    Yea.. using pure digital tickets and setting a limit on the resale value or an outright ban on increase in resale value (not the number of times one resell it) should work. If the ownership tracking and transfer is tied to the payment system then enforcement is done digitally. This will rule out direct cash payments of course.

    On the lighter side of things, here's how to get this implemented.. find a VC near you and mention blockchain!

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday November 15 2017, @02:56PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 15 2017, @02:56PM (#597293) Journal

    If the ownership tracking and transfer

    Do we really want concert venues to be tracking people to the point that they're confirming who goes to concerts? Maybe we can have a "No Listen" list to ban the wrong people from going? I'm sure someone is doing that on a small scale.

    But imagine what a disaster it would be for bands like Insane Clown Posse [wikipedia.org], which already has the problem that the FBI thinks their fan base count as a crime gang and that has legal consequences [rollingstone.com]:

    Since 2011, the Juggalos have been branded by the FBI's National Gang Threat Assessment as "a loosely-organized hybrid gang" in four states – Arizona, California, Pennsylvania and Utah. The report, which was collected from data submitted by state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide, recognized that subsets exhibited "gang-like behavior and engage in criminal activity and violence" in at least 21 states. In 2014, ICP, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the FBI. Though the initial suit was dismissed for lacking "legal standing," an appeals court reinstated the case in 2015, on the basis that the gang designation has brought significant harm to Juggalos. (Oral arguments on the appeal are set to begin October 11th.) "You might not give a fuck about ICP, but how are you not going to give a fuck about the situation that's going on?" Shaggy says.

    Whether you sip the Faygo or remember ridiculing the kid in high school who wanted to wear a Hatchetman shirt, one thing about this case has united people: The move to designate ICP's fan base as a gang is unprecedented. Never before has the U.S. government targeted a fan base of an artist or music genre, and labeled anyone associated with it, as part of an organized gang. Though the Juggalos were not specifically named in the FBI's 2013 or 2015 National Gang Reports, the gang label is the stain they can't remove. That's why they're marching.

    [...]

    One by one, Juggalos of all kinds – military veterans, registered nurses, fast-food cooks, government employees – step up to tell their stories to this family of misfits and outcasts. Despite never receiving a negative work review, Jessica Bonometti says she was fired from her job as a Virginia probation officer last year for showing appreciation on Facebook for ICP. Because she saw an ICP show, Crystal Guerrero says she lost a custody battle for her two children in New Mexico, now only seeing them six hours a week. Ashley Vasquez recalls instances in which she was almost kicked out of the military for her tattoos and wearing clothes supporting ICP's music.

    [...]

    The possession of a concealed weapon charge got him 14 months in jail. When he was getting booked, he says police saw his tattoos and asked him if he was a Juggalo. He says he confirmed he was, and saw the official at the jail mark down that he was a gang member. Brown says he didn't care about the label at the time and that he hasn't let it impact him since then, but one thought has stayed on his mind: What the fuck?

    [...]

    Initially, they joked that the FBI's gang classification of their fan base was yet another reason why they proudly own the title of "most hated band in the world." But the group's outlook would take a sharp turn from glee to despair. When they'd hit the road for meet-and-greets and in-store signings across the country, they found that the FBI's gang label had real-life consequences for Juggalos: Longer terms in jail for offenders. Parents losing kids in custody battles. People getting fired from their jobs. Potential recruits not being able to get into the military. And on and on.

    Even with the increased attention on their cause, the duo say that it's hard to do those meetups with fans nowadays, as the stories they keep hearing from loyal Juggalos affected by the gang label are heartbreaking. Yes, there are probably a few fans who are gang members, but, they argue, why isn't that same flimsy standard of blanketing an entire group applied to people in gangs who like other artists?