Evil Diaries: Pending Litigations

In common English usage, ticket touting is defined in the UK as buying tickets to public events with a view to onward sale at a profit. Such traders are criticised for for “profiteering” or making an improper, because excessive, profit even though those who so criticise do not declare or define when excess arises or how. I doubt if excess in this context can be defined.

The only reasonable objection from the publics’ point of view to the touting trade is that the touts when dealing with, say, football matches can allow excessive concentrations of buyers who support one team finding themselves amidst supporters of the other team. Here excess can lead to public order offences. And, as it happens, statutory legislation specifically stops onward sales of tickets in the case of football matches.

Some remark that the general public can find themselves buying from touts who are based in offshore jurisdictions and, in practice, cannot sue if the vendor does not deliver valid tickets. So what? The same might be said of all sorts of purchases where the buyer must beware.

It is clear that some touts disguise their activities by using software that allows them to buy tickets in bulk before the public can since the touts’ software gives them instant access to available tickets. So what? Touts might well be running the risk of buying thousands of tickets which they cannot in practice sell and thereby end up making a loss. Again it is the original vendor of the tickets who seeks widespread satisfaction of the fans to see that the touts cannot use superior purchasing technology to damage the original issuer’s commercial interest. There is software to assist such a vendor.

I only mention all this since there has this last week been some serious squawking about ticket touting where seemingly (I am not surprised) the CMA have given up on these lines of enquiry.

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Equally prominent has been the criticism of water companies all of which seem to have been polluting public waters, contrary to the law of the land. These companies should be fined with the liability lying on the water companies’ balance sheets at heroic rates of interest which shareholders will have to pay. The notion that the managers should have to pay is absurd since they cannot possibly come up with the necessary. Fines should be the answer.

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Capita runs the BBC’s licence fee collection programme. This morning I received a notice that they would be “visiting” my address. Good luck to them, particularly since I cannot use my television.

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Next week, Tom Hayes should finally be cleared to go to the Court of Appeal. This time however it seems that the establishment have swung behind him. Further the BBC economics correspondent, Andy Verity, will in a few days’ time publish his book on the disgraceful conduct of the authorities. It is called Rigged. Hurry now to scoop up a copy.