Greenwich Ticket Broker Pays Multi-Million Dollar Settlement To NY AG; Ticketmaster Pleased: Update

GREENWICH, CT — Prestige Entertainment, a Greenwich-based ticket broker, will pay a $3.35 million settlement to New York State after the company was found to use software "bots" to illegally purchase and resell hundreds of thousands of New York concert and event tickets, announced New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Prestige, which is also know by the business name Renaissance Ventures, LLC, is one of six companies to reach settlements with Schneiderman's office, which combined total $4.19 million. The companies had been illegally purchasing tickets to New York events since 2011, and reselling them on Stubhub, Vivid Seats and other platforms, according to Scheiderman.

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"Unscrupulous ticket resellers who break the rules and take advantage of ordinary consumers are one of the major reasons why ticketing remains a rigged system," said Schneiderman in a statement. "We will continue to fight to make ticketing a more fair and transparent marketplace, so fans have the opportunity to enjoy their favorite shows and events. Anybody who breaks the law will pay a steep price."

Patch reached out to Prestige Entertainment for a comment, but a spokesperson said the company would not comment on the matter.

The other companies under the settlement are: Ebrani Corp (d/b/a Presidential Tickets) of New York; Concert Specials, Inc. of New York; Fanfetch Inc. of New York; BMC Capital Partners, Inc. of New York; and JAL Enterprises, LLC (d/b/a Top Star Tickets) of Massachusetts. Prestige, Presidential, Concert Specials, Fanfetch and BMC Capital "violated New York’s ticket laws by using illegal software (known as ticket “bots”) to purchase large numbers of tickets on websites such as Ticketmaster.com before the tickets could be obtained by consumers," according to Schneiderman.

Prestige Entertainment, Presidential Tickets, Concert Specials, Fanfetch and JAL Enterprises "each illegally sold tickets to events in New York over the last several years without first obtaining the required license," added Scheiderman. He said that the companies then resold the tickets "at a large profit" to New Yorkers and others.

In a statement, Ticketmaster said it has "zero tolerance" for the use of bots, and the company supports Schneiderman's efforts.

"Ticketmaster supports the efforts of the New York Attorney General to stop bots that attack ticketing systems to take advantage of consumers," said a Ticketmaster spokesperson. "At Ticketmaster, we are committed to getting tickets into the hands of fans. Bots subvert that mission and we have zero tolerance for them."

Under terms of the settlements, the companies and their principals must "maintain proper ticket reseller licenses if they wish to resell tickets to New York events, abstain from using bots," and pay the settlement penalties - from disgorged profits - for having operated illegally.

Schneiderman also reached a settlement with a seventh company, Componica, LLC of Iowa, that developed software libraries used by ticket bots to try to get around tests that websites use to determine if a user is a human or a bot (often referred to as "CAPTCHA" tests). Componica has agreed to not develop or use software to bypass security measures on ticketing websites.

In the case of Prestige Entertainment, Schneiderman's office determined that the company "ran one of the largest ticket purchasing and reselling operations in the United States." The company "used at least two different bots and thousands of credit cards and Ticketmaster accounts to purchase tickets to New York shows."

Additionally, Schneiderman said that Prestige Entertainment "also bought IP addresses from online IP proxy services to evade detection of its bots by retail ticket marketplaces such as Ticketmaster.com."

"Prestige Entertainment used all of its illegal advantages to great effect, purchasing huge quantities of tickets to popular shows," according to Schneiderman. "For example, Prestige Entertainment purchased 1,012 tickets to a 2014 U2 Concert at Madison Square Garden in 1 minute."

The paid settlements break down as follows:

• Prestige Entertainment - $3,350,000
• Concert Specials - $480,000
• Presidential Tickets - $125,000
• BMC Capital - $95,000
• Top Star Tickets - $85,000
• Fanfetch - $55,000

From Schneiderman's release:

Since releasing its report on the concert and sports ticket industry titled Obstructed View: What’s Blocking New Yorkers From Getting Tickets in January 2016, the Attorney General’s office has now announced settlements with 15 businesses involved in the illegal ticket trade, including resellers, facilitators, and software developers, for a total of $7.1 million. The office’s broader investigation into the secondary ticketing industry remains ongoing.

In 2016, New York enacted legislation called for by Attorney General Schneiderman that added criminal penalties for bot use to the existing civil penalties. That law took effect in February 2017. The settlements announced to date involved misconduct committed before the new law took effect.

These cases were handled by Bureau of Internet and Technology (BIT) Assistant Attorneys General Aaron Chase, Jordan Adler, and Noah Stein, and BIT Bureau Chief Kathleen McGee. The Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice is Manisha Sheth.

Photo: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman