Scalping may become legal in Florida

Lawmakers are trying to change a decades-old law that bans Floridians from selling event tickets for more than $1 over their face value.

TALLAHASSEE - Matthew Adams is getting desperate.

He has less than a month to sell six tickets to a Kenny Chesney concert at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. He recently posted the tickets for sale on the popular website Craigslist.org. The asking price: $75 each -- exactly what he paid.

Even though Adams lives in Virginia, he knows he'd be committing a crime in Florida if he tried to sell the tickets for more than $1 over their face value.

But Florida lawmakers want to change that.

A measure filed in both chambers of the Legislature would drastically change the 61-year-old ticket-scalping laws, allowing Floridians to resell tickets at any price to sporting events, theater shows and concerts on authorized websites that offer consumer protection guarantees, such as full refunds if the event is canceled or the tickets are not delivered in time.

The measure comes as Internet ticket sales are skyrocketing -- some legal, others not.

''There's a current market out there that is booming,'' said state Rep. Marcelo Llorente, a Miami Republican who introduced the House version of the bill. ``We want to be able to offer the consumers the protections they deserve and the ability to resell their tickets for whatever price the market will bear.''

The proposed changes also will affect scalpers who stand outside arenas and other event venues hawking tickets.

Current law says someone caught selling an admission ticket for more than $1 over its original selling price can be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

If the law is changed, those same people will make money: Scalpers who make hand-to-hand transactions would be able to resell tickets for 25 percent over face value.

Proponents of the measure say it will do away with laws that limit free enterprise.

Harry's Note - I approve of this new law. People should be able to buy and sell tickets at whatever price the market will bear. The law will remove the secretiveness - and allow people to buy and sell in the sunshine.