'Who can tame the scalpers?' (NY Times)

SelectATicket – today (Monday) 10:02 a.m.

” Nobody expected that getting tickets for Bruce Springsteen concerts this fall would be easy. There have been ticket scams in the past, and this time he was offering the chance to witness the “wrecking crew” bring a finale to the old Giants Stadium in New Jersey before the place is demolished early next year. The tickets were supposed to go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday. Instead, tickets appeared on the Internet a week ahead — ghost seats costing up to $1,300 apiece.

Last week, New Jersey’s attorney general, Anne Milgram, filed charges against three companies for selling the phantom tickets (including some for sections that do not exist). “It’s plain fraud,” she said.

Across the river in New York, where fans routinely face huge markups in the resale market, ticket scalping is basically legal. The state once capped these markups, but lawmakers got rid of that restriction two years ago, and on Monday, Albany is expected to renew the ticketing free-for-all for another year. One reason is that, somehow, a study of this looser market was never finished in Albany. Also, a lot of money has been spread around by lobbyists who want the law to stay just as it is….” [NY Times]