Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New England Patriots Obtain Online Ticket Reseller Names

Posted by Zonk on from the nice-way-to-treat-your-fans dept.

Billosaur writes "The New England Patriots sued on-line ticket re-seller StubHub (a subsidiary of eBay) to obtain the list of names of people who tried to buy or sell Patriots tickets using the service. StubHub lost an appeal in Massachusetts state court last week, and was compelled to hand over the list of 13,000 names. It is currently not clear what the Patriots organization intends to do with the names, but they have intimated that they may revoke the privileges of any season ticket holders on the list. The Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington D.C.-based advocacy group, said the court order to turn over the names infringes on the privacy rights of Patriots fans. At issue is whether using the on-line service allows an end-run around team rules and Massachusetts state law, by allowing ticket holders to charge extreme mark-ups on their tickets." How does this ruling apply to other pieces of transient property?

7 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. I would only want to hide my name if by andy314159pi · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would really only want to hide my name if I'd bought season tickets for the Dolphins.

  2. Ironic? by dotslashdot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't it ironic that the team allegedly invading privacy is called the Patriots?

    1. Re:Ironic? by shoemilk · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not after the PARTIOT Act...

  3. We need to do like we did for the airlines by iminplaya · · Score: 5, Funny

    We need the Department of Gameland Security. If you want a ticket, you must ask permission 72 hours in advance. Upon entering the stadium, you must show your passport or a government approved ID. Under the state's secrets act, you are prohibited from discussing the events. Woe to you who cheers for the wrong team. You will be placed on the "no seat list". See, this is why the airlines really want ID...to prevent you from selling your ticket. Don't be surprised to see it here also "for your protection".

    --
    What?
  4. Re:To be fair... by wizbit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And I don't see any car dealerships selling Maybach jerseys. There's a bigger market than just tickets, and it's overwhelmingly driven by the middle class. Make it impossible for blue collar fans to attend a game and you drive down merchandising opportunities elsewhere. The NFL already has what's mostly become an exclusively white collar event - it's called the Super Bowl.

  5. Re:It's all about the markup... by SnowZero · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If I remember correctly, here in MA is is completely legal to resell tickets - just not for profit. If that's true, then law enforcement should be getting the list of names, not an NFL team. Are the Patriots now a law enforcement agency? Also, why do they need the list of people buying tickets?

    I think scalping sucks too, but you really can't fight the market and pretend there isn't scarcity.
  6. Re:$300K?! You should be so lucky!! by Chapter80 · · Score: 5, Funny

    we had to pay $650,000 for 3 walls and a tarp for a roof, and we didn't even have a pro football team...

    Oh wait...that's not when I was young. That's right now. Fucking Orange County.

    Perhaps you should chose a different colour county.

    Or is the county named after a copulating fruit?