Ticket Scammers Beware!

It looks like Ticketmaster is starting to really go after ticket resellers who circumnavigate their security measures to ensure ticket buyers legally buy their tickets.

A 43-count indictment has been handed down to the owners of California-based Wiseguys Ticket and two others who prosecutors claim hacked into Ticketmaster’s ticketing system to buy large sums of tickets only to resell them illegally.

According to New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, “Kenneth Lowson, 40, of Los Angeles, is the co-founder of Wiseguy Tickets Inc., which authorities said used software that impersonated individual ticket buyers and bombard online ticket services including Ticketmaster and Major League Baseball.” The report goes on to state, “authorities said Lowson and his three co-defendants committed fraud by using 100,000 internet protocol addresses, a variety of company names, hundreds of e-mails and a web of credit-card numbers to hide the fact that all the tickets were being bought by a single company — not individual fans. According to the indictment, they also committed a variety of computer crimes by using an army of online drones to circumvent security systems and enter ticket-selling websites ahead of fans. When Ticketmaster and other companies beefed up security, Wiseguy devised different ways to break through, authorities said.”

The New York Daily News reported, “The defendants figured out a way to automate CAPTCHA, allowing them to complete a blizzard of purchases in seconds and beat fans to good seats, the feds said. They made $29 million reselling 1.5 million prime tickets to ticket brokers, sometimes at $1,000 markups, prosecutors said.”

CNN reported “The indictment alleges the men were aware the specialized network “made it nearly impossible for the average consumer to buy the best seats to the most popular events,” the release says. Prosecutors cite a July 2008 Bruce Springsteen concert at New York’s Giants Stadium in which they say Wiseguys bought up nearly half the 440 floor seats made available to the public. According to the release — citing internal company reports — the Wiseguy employees gloated over the massive purchase, calling the success “straight domination,” and saying they bought the “best ringsides by far.”

A couple of the defendants are currently out on bail, and prosecutors are trying to keep co-owner Lowson behind bars, arguing that he may be a flight risk due to his offshore accounts. The other defendant is currently in Indonesia, negotiating his surrender. If found guilty on all counts, they would spend five years in prison (conspiracy charge) and 20 years in prison on each of the wire fraud charges.

Catch Neil McCormick Stateside This May

If you are in the Pittsburgh area this spring (May 27, to be exact), you can see and hear Neil McCormick in person, in concert, in color and in 3D!  According to the press release below, he is this year’s LAVA Festival’s keynoter/performer. 

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Noted Author and Musician – and U2 Confidante – Neil McCormick to Appear at Lincoln Park

Author of “Killing Bono” will be keynote presenter at this year’s LAVA Festival on May 27

The Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center is pleased to announce that internationally-known author and musician Neil McCormick will deliver the keynote presentation at this year’s Literary and Visual Arts (LAVA) Festival on Thursday, May 27, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for McCormick’s presentation are $5.00 and are available through the Lincoln Park box office, (724) 643-9004.

Neil McCormick is one of the UK’s best known music critics. His weekly column in London’s Daily Telegraph is syndicated around the world and he is a regular guest on BBC Television and radio. He is a prolific blogger (via www.neilmccormick.co.uk) and tweeter (@neil_mccormick). Neil started working for Hot Press music magazine in Dublin as a 17-year-old punk rock art school dropout in 1978. He was a schoolfriend and confidante of U2, and misspent most of his youth as singer in a succession of obscure bands, including Frankie Corpse and the Undertakers, The Modulators, Yeah!Yeah! and Shook Up!

McCormick’s musical misadventures are laid out in painful detail in the acclaimed 2003 memoir Killing Bono (published in the UK as I Was Bono’s Doppelganger) which Bono described as “Very funny, very moving.’ Indeed, Bono was so impressed with Neil’s autobiography, he asked him to collaborate on U2’s. Neil is the author of U2 By U2, the best selling music book in the world in 2006. He is currently working on his first novel. Killing Bono is in the process of being filmed in Ireland, with Ben Barnes (The Picture Of Dorian Gray and Prince Caspian in the Narnia film series) starring as Neil and Martin McCann as Bono, directed by Nick Hamm (The Hole, Godsend). It will be released late 2010. Despite the discouragement of some of his fellow critics, Neil continues to make music on the sidelines under the alias The Ghost Who Walks.

“I was Neil McCormick’s fan at school,” says Bono. “He was much cooler than me, a much better writer and I thought he’d make a much better rock star. I was wrong on one count.”

At his Lincoln Park appearance, McCormick will be taking a novel approach to reading from his work, discussing how his life and art intertwine, and performing some of his original songs.

Lincoln Park’s LAVA Festival (formerly “Synergy”) is a two-day celebration (May 26-27) of the literary and visual arts, featuring professional and student exhibitions and readings. Past keynote presenters have included New York Times #1 best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow (The Last Lecture) and filmmaker Bill Hinzman, who appeared in and co-produced the original Night of the Living Dead. A complete schedule of this year’s events will be released soon. The student portion of the LAVA Festival is sponsored by the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, under the direction of media arts instructor Scott Andrew, and Dan LeRoy, director of the literary arts department.

The Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center is located 45 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh in Midland, Beaver County. The $30M facility opened in 2006 and is home to the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, a Pennsylvania public charter school providing a state-approved academic program along with professional training in music, theater, dance, creative writing, and media arts. The Center is also home to the Henry Mancini Arts Academy, and presents a variety of professional and student performances each year.

For more information contact Stephen Catanzarite, Managing Director, (724) 643-9004, ext. 1301.

Cashman Cashes In With U2 Auction

(Page from Lola Cashman’s personal measurement book, photo courtesy of Gotta Have Rock and Roll site)

U2’s former stylist, Lola Cashman, has put some of her U2 items up for auction through the Gotta Have Rock and Roll site.

Some items available:
Bono Signed and Inscribed Original Photograph by Matthew Roleston
Larry Mullen, Jr. Signed and Inscribed Personal Bible
Larry Mullen Jr. Signed and Inscribed Worn Sneakers
U2’s Stylist’s Measurement Book
Lola’s personal set of Backstage Passes

There are 16 items total that Cashman is looking to auction off. Gotta Have Rock and Roll has a total of 600 auction pieces that are going under the online hammer, which includes a great deal of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley memorabilia.

The auction goes through March 10.

Lillywhite Cries “Uncle,” Ramps Up Idol Bid

Here’s an update to an earlier post about Steve Lillywhite’s pitch to be the next Simon Cowell: He really, really wants the job!

Lillywhite has hired the public relations firm Blake Zidell & Associates to help him with his campaign. Not that he wasn’t doing a good job already, but in response to all the “urging” he is getting from fans, he’s now making this more than a one-man, one-YouTube video effort.

BZA sent out this release, which says there’s another video coming on March 8.

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For Immediate Release
February 26,  2010

AT URGING OF FANS, LEGENDARY RECORD PRODUCER STEVE LILLYWHITE CAMPAIGNS TO REPLACE SIMON COWELL ON AMERICAN IDOL

* Producer of U2, Dave Matthews Band, the Rolling Stones and Many Other Eminent Artists Promises to Bring Credibility and Vision to the Star-Making TV Show *

Steve Lillywhite, perhaps the most accomplished producer of the last three decades, might at first seem an odd candidate to host one of the most popular TV shows in history: While he has been responsible for countless records that are both critically acclaimed and commercially successful — from U2 to Peter Gabriel, the Rolling Stones, the Talking Heads, Dave Matthews Band, Jason Mraz and 30 Seconds to Mars — his reputation is for landmark works and career artists, rather than pop ephemera, and for being behind the scenes, rather than a star himself.

Yet, when a fan made a Facebook page suggesting that Lillywhite should replace Simon Cowell on American Idol, he — along with other fans, industry colleagues, blogs and newspapers — began to contemplate the idea. And he decided that he not only would love the job, but also would be an ideal choice for the position. He has always had the foresight to choose artists who would become superstars, and been sure enough of himself to direct them in the making of their albums, many of which have led to Album of the Year and Producer of the Year GRAMMYs. Furthermore, has an exuberant, funny, over-the-top personality, which can be heard in his popular shows on National Public Radio and East Village Radio, both called The Lillywhite Sessions.

His self-assuredness and sense of humor are on display in the YouTube video he made to stump for the Idol job. Among his many qualifications, he notes, “I have a great accent (listen to me), and I have great credibility among millions of music buyers.” He adds, “I can be firm: I have spent 30 years telling Bono what to do,” referring to his discovery of and longtime collaboration with U2. He also shores up his current relevance by pointing out that he produced the 30 Seconds to Mars single that holds that #1 spot at alternative radio, and that he is beginning work this month with the band Evanescence.

Since Lillywhite posted the YouTube video, there has been a growing groundswell of discourse about the prospect of his replacing Cowell, including preliminary coverage by USA Today, Rolling Stone, Perez Hilton and UK’s The Guardian, among others. Lillywhite plans to post a follow-up video on Monday, March 8.

Video: Bono talks, U2 does ‘King of Trash’

A couple weeks ago on the main site we posted news about U2 appearing on a new documentary called Music of Ireland. Part One will premiere in the U.S. next month, but U2 won’t show up until Part Two later this year.

Not to worry, as the producers have posted a sneak peek on YouTube that includes Bono chatting and U2 performing Gavin Friday’s song, “King of Trash.”

Steve Lillywhite lobbies for American Idol gig

Could Steve Lillywhite be the next Simon Cowell? He’s certainly trying, and is actually making a pretty convincing case for himself:

“I have spent 30 years telling Bono what to do” – love it!

Cowell announced last month that this is his final season as the American Idol judge that so many viewers love to hate. And Steve L. has been talking about replacing him on Twitter, making the video you see above, and there’s even a Facebook page:

Steve Lillywhite Should be the Replacement for Simon on American Idol

So the question for you, U2 fans, is this: Would you like to see Steve judging American Idol? Would you be more inclined to watch if he did? Comments are open!