The Association Of Secondary Ticket Agents has welcomed action taken by the Metropolitan Police which led to the closure of an allegedly dodgy ticket resale company called www.paperticket.co.uk.
From what we can see the police took action by telling the company hosting the site to take it down. A message currently showing at that URL reads: "On 16 October, the Metropolitan Police Service's Computer Crime Unit requested the dehosting of the www.paperticket.co.uk website under the Proceeds of Crime Act. People who have bought tickets from this site are encouraged to call Consumer Direct for advice on 08454 04 05 06".
The boss of the ASTA said yesterday that his organisation had alerted the authorities to the rogue ticket seller after spotting them selling tickets to upcoming tours at unrealistically cheap prices. ASTA chair Graham Burns told reporters: "We have been concerned for weeks that Paperticket was selling tickets for forthcoming concerts by the likes of Barry Manilow, Kings of Leon and the Killers at unrealistically low prices and we made our concerns known to the authorities".
Depending on the scale of the paperticket.co.uk operation, and the number of fans who have been sold possibly dodgy tickets, this may increase calls from the live music sector for more government legislation to cover the re-sale of tickets to gigs by unofficial agents. That said, the ASTA says that its kitemark scheme and code of conduct already protects consumers, and Burns says government and the industry should endorse it to further consumer awareness of it.
Burns: "The Government's failure to endorse a kitemarking scheme means the consumer has no way of identifying legitimate traders leaving them open to exploitation. We would urge consumers only to buy tickets on the internet from accredited suppliers or legitimate ticket brokers who have signed up to the ASTA Code of Conduct".