In the Opinion Pages of the NY Times today, Albert A. Foer, "a lawyer formerly with the Federal Trade Commission [who] is president of the American Antitrust Institute," writes that:

AT this moment, all over the United States, consumers are buying tickets to games, concerts and other live events under the impression that they have the right to give away, donate or resell the tickets they purchase. They assume that they can do so whenever and with whomever they wish and (as long as they don't violate the few remaining laws against scalping) at whatever price they choose.

But those consumers may be mistaken. In recent years ticket sellers, along with promoters, producers, artists and sports teams, have increasingly taken a new approach to selling tickets. This approach, marketed in the name of innovation, convenience and protecting purchasers, restricts those fundamental freedoms long rightly taken for granted.

The practice is so-called paperless ticketing...

Read the whole article at the NY Times, including the part where he admits that "The American Antitrust Institute, of which I am president, received a modest contribution, in the form of sponsorship of a conference last year, from an advocacy group financed in part by StubHub."

Bono realizes he needs new shoes @ Giants Stadium in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, is launching the Take Off Your Boots campaign to collect shoes for the charity Soles4Souls, and giving away tickets to the U2 360 Tour to those who participate. From May through July, StubHub with the help of Hard Rock Cafe, will host events in Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle to collect new or gently used shoes. In exchange for donating a pair of shoes at these events, fans will receive a pair of U2 tickets.

Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based charity, collects shoes and distributes them to people in need. Since 2005, it has given more than 13 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes to people in over 125 countries.

"We are thrilled StubHub is making it easy for people in these cities to donate to our cause. We hope that as a result of the Take Off Your Boots campaign , Soles4Souls will be able to distribute thousands of pairs of shoes to those who are most in need," said Wayne Elsey, Founder and CEO of Soles4Souls.

There is a limit of one pair of U2 tickets per person donating a pair of shoes at the Take Off Your Boots events, while supplies last. Shoes must be gently used or new to be accepted.

The Take Off Your Boots campaign will come to NYC on July 20 from 11 AM to 2 PM at the StubHub Last Minute Services Storefront on 40th and Broadway. The full list of cities with dates and locations is below.

The campaign is for U2's 360 Tour which hits Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, NJ on July 20 with support from Interpol. Florence & the Machine also open part of the tour.

U2 played Glastonbury Festival this past weekend. Check out a video of that with their setlist and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "trade in your shoes for U2 tickets..."

As you knew 417 comments ago, one less Radiohead album ago, and back before Arcade Fire had a grammy, LCD Soundsystem added four more NYC shows that will take place at Terminal 5 on March 28, 29, 30 and 31. That gives the band one day off before they play their final show on April 2nd at Madison Square Garden - the show that sold out instantly, but that nobody but scalpers seemed to get tickets for. That made many, including James Murphy (see above tweets), very mad, and so the T5 shows were added, and James wrote this letter (which says tickets will be on sale soon)...

Continue reading "recapping: LCD Soundsystem's addition of 4 shows, James Murphy's letter, evil scalpers, Colbert Report tonight"

" Gov. Paterson is going nuclear in the political fight over New York's now-expired ticket scalping law. The state's 2007 scalping law, which removed price caps on the resale of tickets, expired Saturday.

As a result, Paterson is firing off a letter to 56 ticket brokers, including StubHub, reminding them a more restrictive law passed in the 1920s is back in effect. According to Paterson aides, that law prohibits the selling of tickets for more than $2 above face value.

And it prohibits primary sellers like Ticketmaster from tacking on service and delivery fees.

"Ticket resellers must act in accordance with the laws of New York State," the Paterson administration says in a copy of the letter, obtained by the Daily News." [Daily News]

NIN @ the 2009 Virgin Fest (more by Bao Nguyen)

A letter from Trent below...

Continue reading "Trent Reznor: thoughts on ticket re-sellers / scalping"