The ticketing industry in the United Kingdom has become a national scandal. Fans are being ripped off left, right and centre if they want to buy tickets to see their favourite performers. When someone uses the term "tout", many people will instantly think of the shadowy figures found standing around concert venues and sports stadia calling out "buy or sell any spare tickets!" Yet ticket touting today takes place on an industrial scale, driven by computer programmes that can harvest thousands of tickets as soon as they go on sale, denying the real fans the chance to buy them.
For many major events, there is practically no chance that individual customers will be able to buy an advance ticket at anything like the cover price. Instead, they will be directed to websites like Seatwave and StubHub where they will be asked to pay many times over the real price. For example, if you are a fan of Phil...