LONDON (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The U.K. is finally heeding the call of event organizers across the country to step up actions to stop ticket resellers from stealing their business and screwing their fans with a proposal currently being debated by government to ban ticket touting for all nationally important sports and music events.
The resale of tickets by touts and internet auction sites for events such as Wimbledon and Live8 would be prohibited under the new proposals, according to the Guardian Unlimited.
The government has been facing increasing pressure from an alliance of governing bodies of Britain’s five largest s ports and leading concert promoters to take action against the burgeoning internet resale market.
Ticket scalping is already illegal for football games in the country, and will be outlawed for the London 2012 Olympics.
Shaun Woodward, a minister for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, said the current system worked perfectly well in 90% of cases, and is opposed to a blanket ban on the secondary market.
“As a very, very last resort – and we are not at that point yet – we might have to consider regulation,” Woodward told the Guardian.
He said the government was fleshing out plans for “crown jewels” protection for some events, but will not make any move to outlaw the practice entirely. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
