UK online ticket touts told to 'clean up act'

LONDON - The 1 billion pound ($1.97 billion) industry for reselling sports, concert and theatre tickets in Britain must "clean up its act," but should not be banned, an influential group of legislators said on Thursday.

The resale of tickets over the Internet on Web sites such as eBay, Viagogo and Seatwave has flourished in recent years, with ticket-holders pairing up with willing buyers through exchanges which take a small commission.

But the practice has angered event promoters who say it allows "parasitic profiteering" while giving nothing back to the entertainment industry itself.

For example, tickets for rock band Led Zeppelin's comeback concert in London last year which originally sold for 125 pounds were resold for an average 7,425 pounds, according to Seatwave.The report comes as the music industry battles with falling CD sales due in part to piracy, while the live music scene goes from strength to strength.

The report, released by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said the secondary ticketing industry has been transformed by the Internet in recent years, providing convenience and more choice to consumers.

But it warned that some resellers were engaging in dubious practices, such as advertising tickets before they had acquired them, and selling tickets which had been distributed for free to charity events. Some tickets are also not genuine.

"What I think causes understandable resentment is when artists or sporting clubs see (their) tickets ... exchanging hands for huge sums of money and they get no benefit from it whatsoever," the chairman of the committee John Whittingdale told Reuters in an interview.

He said the committee and the government are very reluctant to legislate, but if there was no way that a voluntary scheme could be achieved, there might be no alternative.

The unauthorised reselling of tickets for soccer matches or the Olympic Games is illegal in Britain due to security reasons and the report suggested extending this approach would result in confusion and a two-tiered system.

Instead, it welcomed a proposal from music management groups representing some of Britain's biggest acts such as the Arctic Monkeys to ask the exchanges to share some of the proceeds. In return, the music groups would offer legitimacy to the market.

Viagogo, Seatwave, GetMeIn and eBay all welcomed the report and the reluctance to use legislation but disputed the need for what they said was a tax on secondary tickets, saying it would increase the price.

Viagogo has already signed a deal with Warner Music Group where fans can buy tickets and receive additional downloads or videos, while Warner receives a share of revenues, and said that individual approach was preferable to a government imposed ruling."We agree that the rogue operators out there should be shut down," Viagogo Chief Executive Eric Baker told Reuters. "And the basic tenant of doing business with the industry is something Viagogo already does. (There's no need for a) tax on fans reselling tickets."

  London organisers promise low-carbon flame

LONDON - The flame burning over the 2012 London Olympic Stadium will use a low-carbon fuel, organisers said on Monday.

"It's early days but it will happen," a spokesman for French energy company EDF, London 2012's sustainability partner, told reporters after a series of environmental targets were announced.

"We are working with the organising committee (LOCOG) and we will see what options there are for a low carbon fuel for the cauldron. It's a challenge because a 'clean' flame would be invisible and that would not be ideal."

A spokesman for the LOCOG said they were looking into alternative fuels but added it was important for the flame to still be visible day and night.

"We are looking for a flame of the right quality but with a low carbon footprint," he said.

One option is for the cauldron, which traditionally burns day and night throughout the two-week Games, to use an eco-gas such as methane instead of the more polluting natural gas or paraffin.

London 2012's sustainability plan was at the heart of its winning bid and has five main themes; climate change, waste, biodiversity, social inclusion and healthy living.

"We hope to use the power of the games to drive change, behaviourally and in the way big events are staged in the future," LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe told reporters.