October 16, 2007 10:05 AM ET
Call it "Hannah Montana's Revenge": On the heels of a nationwide ticket scandal involving a certain Disney star and a Ticketmaster lawsuit, a U.S. district court judge has issued an injunction against Pittsburgh-based software company RMG Technologies, which created computer programs that allowed scalpers and online ticket brokers to swoop in and purchase tickets for an event in bulk before the general public could even click a mouse. The program allowed its users to jump in front of an electronic line and repeatedly buy large amounts of tickets. It somehow also got past those weird, scrawled confirmation letters Ticketmaster asks people to type in an attempt to prevent computer programs from accomplishing the exact sort of action RMG was successfully doing. The judge's order prevents RMG from "creating, trafficking in, facilitating the use of or using computer programs or other automatic devices to circumvent" Ticketmaster's supposed copy-protected Web site. However, a spokesperson from ticket-resale site StubHub claims that it's the public's demand that is driving up ticket prices and not line-cutting computer programs. Either way, the injunction could mark the beginning of real change in the ticket industry -- plus it actually has concertgoers rooting for Ticketmaster, a company that has long alienated the public with outlandish fees and monopolies.
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