LONDON - The Culture, Media and Sport select committee has come down heavily on ticket touts who sell tickets for major events online at auction websites like eBay for hefty profits. The Committee said that some 40 percent of tickets at charity events were being sold on the Internet and called for a code of conduct as far as reselling tickets was concerned.
However the Committee did not call for an outright ban on ticket sales through the Internet. The report also said that selling tickets on the Internet for the sole purpose of reaping profits was unfair. Organizers of some events must consider refunding people under exceptional circumstances, it added.
The Committee also called for the inception of a new panel that would put an end to sale of tickets for charity or free events.
"This represents a way forward which could benefit all concerned, and we call on all those involved in the debate to work together to develop it on a self-regulatory basis," Committee chairman John Whittingdale said, adding that organizers must be allowed to share profits on resold tickets.
Ticket touting became notorious when Live 8 concert tickets were put up on eBay minutes after they were released. Angry protestors forced the site to withdraw these tickets by bidding bogusly for up to 10 million pounds on them.
Reacting to the latest recommendations, an eBay spokeswoman promised the site would look carefully at how to regulate sale of free tickets. EBay spokeswoman Vanessa Canzini also said that self-regulation was a must, "We are delighted that the committee has rejected a blanket ban on ticket resale and upheld consumers' right to resell spare tickets," she added.
