PRES. TRUMP AWARDED INAUGURAL FIFA PEACE PRIZE AT WORLD CUP DRAW IN WASHINGTON . (PHOTOS).
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit Monday against a ticket reseller, accusing the company of breaking the law by exceeding purchase limits for high-demand events and reselling tickets at inflated prices.
The FTC said Maryland-based Key Investment Group, which operates under brands including Epic Seats and Totally Tix, used thousands of fake Ticketmaster accounts and other methods to buy tickets for concerts, including Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. According to the agency, the company purchased at least 379,776 tickets from Ticketmaster between November 2022 and December 2023, spending nearly $57 million and reselling them for roughly $64 million. For one Swift concert, Key Investment Group allegedly used 49 different accounts to buy 273 tickets, far surpassing the 2023 six-ticket-per-person limit. The difficulty of securing Swift tickets in 2023 had previously prompted a Senate hearing on Ticketmaster’s practices.
Key Investment Group said it will defend itself against the lawsuit, claiming the FTC is misapplying the Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016, which it says was intended to target bots, not legitimate resale businesses. The company added that it uses human employees rather than automated software to purchase tickets. The FTC countered that the law also bars circumventing security measures designed to enforce ticket limits.
The case comes amid broader scrutiny of the ticket resale market. In March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, alongside Kid Rock, instructing officials to enforce compliance with tax rules, improve price transparency, and crack down on unfair or deceptive practices in the secondary ticket market.
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