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Wow, this is utterly absurd. I'm no lawyer, but couldn't this set a dangerous precedent that could find people being federally indicted for circumventing CAPTCH
by tdavis 17y ago
Wow, this is utterly absurd. I'm no lawyer, but couldn't this set a dangerous precedent that could find people being federally indicted for circumventing CAPTCHAs and the like?
As far as I'm concerned, a program which automatically purchases tickets through TicketMaster is more of a feature than a federal crime; the process for a law-abiding citizen is horrendously convoluted and a complete UX disaster. Too bad TM gets away with it, thanks to their monopoly.
I've spent enough time in the ticketing industry to know that it's right up there with "accai berry" and the like in terms of shadiness. Anybody who thinks StubHub et. al. are "fan marketplaces" is severely delusional; 99% of all tickets are listed by brokers who do it for a living (most of whom use less-efficient ways to circumvent TM security, however. That 25MM number is the only reason this is being prosecuted so vigorously.)
- aresant 17y agoAt face value definitely seems like it should be civil, not criminal although I know that components of the "ticketing" business, like scalping tickets on event sites, can be criminal offenses set state-by-state.
- wgj 17y ago"indicted by a federal grand jury on charges..." and "surrendered Monday to the FBI" definitely make this sound like a criminal case. I agree though, I wouldn't have thought much about automated purchasing being a federal crime.
- aaronblohowiak 17y agoIt is the circumventing of security methods and the wire fraud that are FBI issues, not the automation of purchasing.
- ig1 17y agoIt's a good point. Is it actually legal to circumvent captchas ? - how is brute forcing a captcha any different from brute forcing an ssh password ? Both are security systems that restrict who has access to a system.