Secondary ticketing has become a real political hot potato in the States since Lord Springsteen spoke out, hasn't it? And just as the UK industry seems to have reluctantly accepted the growth of online ticketing touting as an irritating but unavoidable part of the internet age. As pressure mounts on Ticketmaster regarding the way it promotes its US ticket resale service TicketsNow via the Ticketmaster.com website, a US senator, Charles E Schumer, has proposed new laws to govern ticket resales.
Among his proposals are a two-day waiting period, which would mean tickets could not be resold for gigs until two days after they officially go on sale via official primary ticket sellers, and also a registration system that wouldn't just force the secondary ticketing websites to be registered, but every single seller too. Sellers would be given a registration number that they would have to publish with every sale, basically taking eBay's seller rating system and making it internet-wide and a legal requirement.
Schumer's proposals are expected to be introduced into the US Congress when it returns from its Easter break later this month.