Ticketing giant Ticketmaster is taking aim at brokers and scalpers

Ticketing giant Ticketmaster is taking aim at what it says is a new obstacle for fans hoping to attend concerts by hot acts like Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen and Hannah Montana: computer software that enables brokers and scalpers to swarm the company's Web site and snap up tickets faster than consumers can.

IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ticketmaster earlier this year filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against RMG Technologies Inc., a small Pittsburgh-based company that runs TicketBrokerTools.com. According to papers filed with the lawsuit, RMG rents to scalpers software that can inundate Ticketmaster's computers with thousands of requests for seats, "in effect allowing them to cut in line," according to Joe Freeman, a Ticketmaster vice president.

Last month, Ticketmaster filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that would prohibit RMG from selling such software; Judge Audrey B. Collins is expected to rule on the motion this month.

In a court filing of his own, RMG's lawyer, Jay M. Coggan, dismissed Ticketmaster's allegations. "This may be the only time in the history of litigation that any seller sued its customers for paying them too much money," he wrote.

The Internet era has brought speed and convenience to all sorts of consumer transactions. For concertgoers, however, it has also led to ever-faster sellouts for hot events. Ticketmaster deploys technology that is supposed to stop brokers from gaining access to large numbers of seats via online sales. But it says brokers' software circumvents the company's protections.

That has placed large numbers of seats in the hands of brokers who use eBay Inc.'s StubHub, Craigslist and other online venues to resell the tickets at a big mark up.

One situation roiling consumers involves the 54-concert "Best of Both Worlds" tour in which singer-actress Miley Cyrus is performing sets as herself and as her fictional alter ego, Hannah Montana. Parents and children have found finding tickets for the shows difficult and expensive. The issue is drawing the attention of government officials. On Thursday — in a rare Internet-age example of authorities enforcing antiscalping laws — the attorneys general of Missouri and Arkansas filed lawsuits against people accused of illegally reselling Hannah Montana tickets.

According to StubHub, tickets for "Best of Both Worlds" are currently selling for an average $237, making them pricier than seats for the Police ($209), Justin Timberlake ($182) and Beyonce ($212). The highest face value for a ticket on the Hannah Montana tour: $63.