Scam Defense Lab — #11

> ### The Men Who Beat Ticketmaster 1.5 Million Times

53 characters — fits before YouTube truncates

**Opener** (the two lines above the fold):

> Between 2005 and 2009 three men in California built a network of computers that pretended to be
> thousands of different fans, so it could take the best seats the instant they went on sale. About
> 1.5 million tickets. For one Springsteen show at Giants Stadium, nearly half the floor tickets
> closest to the stage. When it was over, nobody went to prison.

**Body:**

> This is the story of *United States v. Lowson*, No. 2:10-cr-00114 in the District of New Jersey —
> the "Wiseguys" CAPTCHA-bot case — and of the law that arrived six years too late.
>
> Everything in this video is drawn from the court record and government releases: the 60-page
> indictment returned February 23, 2010, the U.S. Attorney's releases of March 1, 2010, November 18,
> 2010 and June 9, 2011, the FTC's January 22, 2021 release announcing the first BOTS Act cases, and
> Ticketmaster's own statement on the November 2022 on-sale. Where the record is silent, the video
> says so rather than filling the gap.
>
> Ticketmaster and the other ticket sellers were the victims in this case. None of them was ever
> accused of any wrongdoing. The video does not explain how the security measures were defeated,
> and never will.
>
> **Sources**
> · Indictment, Dkt. 1, United States v. Lowson et al., D.N.J. 2:10-cr-00114 (filed Feb. 23, 2010)
> · U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey — releases of Mar. 1, 2010; Nov. 18, 2010; June 9, 2011
> · Federal Trade Commission — release of Jan. 22, 2021 ("FTC Brings First-Ever Cases Under the BOTS Act")
> · Ticketmaster — "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Onsale Explained," Nov. 2022 (archived)
> · Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Jan. 24, 2023 — written testimony of Live Nation's President & CFO
>
> **How this video was made**
> The animation is illustrative. Scenes are recreations, not footage of real events or real people;
> no one depicted is a likeness of any real individual. The narration is synthesised. The research
> is original and drawn from the primary documents listed above.
>
> **Report fraud:** ic3.gov · reportfraud.ftc.gov

**Chapters** — ⏳ written after the beatmap exists. Boundaries = the five chapter dividers.

0:00 The line you never win
0:48 The test on the door
2:23 Straight domination
4:20 The knock
5:46 The law that came late
7:20 The line is still there

Tags