Stop Ticket Scalpers

Dear Elected Representatives,

As you obviously know, capitalism works on the principle of supply and demand. Unfortunately, so does extortion. Ticket scalpers have shown themselves to be crooks that manage to exploit this principle insuring that they can manipulate the demand by controlling the supply.

As Rolling Stone's Steve Knopper reported, scalpers (whom he flatteringly refers to as 'professional ticket brokers') "use a combination of manpower and technology to swoop in and commandeer hundreds of seats at a time.... often using expensive software that enables them to get around ticketmaster.com's security and buy up large blocks of tickets before fans have the chance." (Knopper, April 25th, 2005)

As further evidence of the specious tactics of ticket scalpers, Mr. Knopper went on to add that scalpers "hire dozens of people to log on to ticketmaster.com at the moment hot tickets go on sale. Some also incorporate more complicated high-tech techniques, like using computer "bots" to override ticketmaster.com's security by automatically plugging in the randomly selected "secret word" repeatedly and at high speeds. Hackers reportedly sell the software for $20,000 and say it allows a single broker to buy hundreds of tickets in minutes."

It is sad enough that the aforementioned technology is legal in the United States. But it is tragic that those who use such technology and dishonest tactics are allowed to act without the burdens or responsibility, justice, or guilt.

We, the undersigned music fans, are tired of being hustled by those with a disingenuous interest in concerts. We are tired of having events that can be among the most memorable of our lives be subject to the greedy whims of those wishing to profit at the expense of others. We are tired of continually finding ourselves extorted and exploited by ticket scalpers who seize the supply of concert tickets at the first opportunity to purchase them and then attempt to sell them back to us at prices often exceeding 10 times their face value.

As your constituents, we are asking you to take action to stop, or at least restrict, the actions of such thieves and charlatans. As our chosen representatives, we are asking you to represent the values we hold dear: honesty, integrity, and justice. Surely, we can find these ideas mutually agreeable, and we hope that can empathize with our plight and act accordingly.