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Richmond Times Dispatch – Markus Schmidt: Albo bill could clear hurdle for resale of concert tickets

Richmond Times Dispatch – Markus Schmidt: Albo bill could clear hurdle for resale of concert tickets

Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice, a Washington-based trade association of e-commerce businesses and online consumers, said that while the delegate’s proposal is brief, it would protect consumers’ rights.

“When people buy an event ticket they can give that away as they please,” DelBianco said. “While the bill doesn’t prohibit (Ticketmaster) from issuing these restrictive tickets, they also have to issue a transferable ticket, giving fans a choice.”

Ticketmaster and LNE have yet to respond to Albo’s proposal, but DelBianco said the companies might not be opposed to removing the roadblocks they created eight years ago — because they can now rely on a new federal law that prohibits cyber scalpers from using bots to scoop up thousands of tickets for popular sporting events, concerts and theater performances to resell on other websites.

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