If you ever buy, sell, or give away a sports or concert ticket, you will soon run into the Ticket Monster.   This voracious beast won’t be satisfied until it controls and collects fees on every ticket sold in the secondary market. And the Ticket Monster cleverly disguises itself as a convenience called ‘paperless tickets’ from the folks at TicketMaster.

So what is a paperless ticket?  Instead of a regular ticket that you can give to family, friends, or sell to someone else, a paperless ticket is tethered to the last purchaser. To use a paperless ticket at a game or concert, you must show your photo ID and the credit card you used to buy the ticket. 

The inconvenience of paperless tickets really hits hard when you buy tickets for your family or give them as a gift.  Want to give your football seats to a friend on game day?  Sorry, but you still have to accompany him to the stadium box office.

Bought your daughter a ticket for the latest teen idol concert?  Sorry, you’ll have to fight your way through adoring throngs to the venue ticket window. 

And while Ticketmaster says their paperless tickets are for your convenience, they’re aimed squarely at limiting your rights to share or resell event tickets.  Naturally, TicketMaster charges another fee to “transfer” paperless tickets to your intended recipients.  Moreover, paperless tickets help team owners, performers and venues sell more seats because it becomes such a hassle to sell or transfer tickets you can’t use.

Want an alternative to fearing and feeding the Ticket Monster?  Grab your torches and farm tools and join the Fan Freedom Project:

Today, NetChoice is joining fans across the country to launch Fan Freedom Project, a campaign to fight against Ticketmaster, event producers and billionaire sports team owners who want to control the secondary tickets market, too.   We’ll fight for your right to buy, sell or share tickets – when you want, with whomever you want, in whatever market you choose, and at the price you think is right.

As of now, Americans enjoy an open and competitive secondary tickets market. With StubHub, FanSnap, TicketNetwork and local ticket brokers, you have continuous access to events even after they’re sold out, competitive ticket prices for major pro sports, and a place to sell your tickets if you can’t attend.

But all this is threatened by restrictive paperless ticketing, a new technology that turns the Internet upside-down by taking competition and choice away from consumers.     And while Ticketmaster says their paperless tickets offer innovation and convenience, it’s aimed squarely at limiting your rights to share or resell event tickets.

Check out the video and join FanFreedom.org and fight back against the Ticket Monster!