Features
Price Caps Temporarily Return To NY
That’s not a typo. Apparently legislators in Albany missed a deadline that would have extended a 2007 law that removed the price cap. The law was proposed by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer with the aim of letting the free market determine prices.
“For better or worse, ticket scalping is illegal again, thank goodness,” said Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Dem who has proposed legislation limiting markups to no more than 25 percent of the face value of a ticket.
While two bucks over face value may be the law for the moment, I’m curious as to how that’s going to be enforced. Are authorities going to make Tickets Now and StubHub lower their prices? Will they be contacting Craigslist and other sites where people resell tickets and make them take down offers that are priced higher than the legal limit? Will there be arrests?
Probably not.
The stricter law isn’t likely to last very long, as lawmakers and Gov. David Paterson are currently negotiating on a bill that eliminates the cap. An agreement could make unrestricted markups retroactive to Monday.
The only concessions to public complaints in the proposed legislation are a provision to prevent ticket sellers from redirecting customers to resale companies and Web sites they own and one that would require venue operators and promoters to determine and disclose if a ticket being sold is for an obstructed view seat.
A spokesperson for Paterson said the governor is “working with the Legislature on this bill and will review the final legislation once it has been delivered to his desk.”