Wow, this is utterly absurd. I'm no lawyer, but couldn't this set a dangerous precedent that could find people being federally indicted for circumventing CAPTCHAs and the like?

As far as I'm concerned, a program which automatically purchases tickets through TicketMaster is more of a feature than a federal crime; the process for a law-abiding citizen is horrendously convoluted and a complete UX disaster. Too bad TM gets away with it, thanks to their monopoly.

I've spent enough time in the ticketing industry to know that it's right up there with "accai berry" and the like in terms of shadiness. Anybody who thinks StubHub et. al. are "fan marketplaces" is severely delusional; 99% of all tickets are listed by brokers who do it for a living (most of whom use less-efficient ways to circumvent TM security, however. That 25MM number is the only reason this is being prosecuted so vigorously.)