Ticketmaster is trying to go ticketless to prevent scalping. no tickets to physically transfer means no sale. Not sure how well it will work. they're supposedly allowing the original owner to get a refund or something in the event that they cannot attend but they supposedly cannot resell the tickets.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/06/08/pm_ticketmaster/

I will say, I get both sides of the debate. There's a market for tickets so somebody should be able to sell them. but, if the secondary market actually hoards the tickets preventing the general public from buying them in the first place then there's an issue.

In San Diego, city residents get a steep discount for golf fees at city owned courses (think Torrey Pines, home of the Buick Open and PGA). Brokers would hoard the tee times by autodialing, hiring people to call, etc. and then resell them for steep profits to city residents who were unable to call in and make their own tee time. The city then changed the rules a bit by allowing city residents with proof of residency to call in a day before the rest of the people could call in to level the playing field a bit. Not sure how well it works though.