by Genghis Conn
www.ctlocalpolitics.net
Connecticut has given up the fight against ticket scalping, which is now a big business on the internet.
Connecticut is the latest state to give up the fight against scalping, mainly due to the futile nature of trying to enforce such laws in the face of the burgeoning Internet-based ticket resale market. In some states where scalping is legal, such as Florida, Greene said, ticket prices have dropped because the market has more inventory for sale not only from brokers but also the public.
Now, this story is from a site which specializes in news about and for the ticket reselling industry, so naturally there’s a certain bias here. But there are three things from the article that jumped out at me: . . .
1. It was passed just before the end of the session
2. It was opposed by Richard Blumenthal
3. It was passed unanimously
The first suggests that few lawmakers had really read the bill or knew much about it. This could not be the case, but I’m suspicious of eleventh-hour bills. Especially this year.
The second two add up to something much more interesting. Richard Blumenthal objected to the bill because he was afraid that consumer prices would rise. However, it seems that no one in the legislature cares what Richard Blumenthal thinks–at least on this issue. Remember the bill to restrict social networking sites, mainly aimed at MySpace, that Blumenthal proposed? That never happened, either.
Just how much (or little) actual clout does the Attorney General have at the Capitol, anyway?
Source
Branch, Alfred. “Connecticut Legalizes Ticket Scalping.” Ticket News 6 July, 2007.
