Page 60 - 文理書院Cognitio Collage 2018-19

Letter to the Editor

4R3 (26) Xia Chun Fai, Jeffrey

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to express my views on ticket touts which are very common in
Hong Kong. People buy tickets of popular events, such as pop concerts and

stand-up comedy shows, and resell them at an inflated price. Some have
therefore suggested the introduction of a real-name system for the sale of
tickets.

As ticket touts buy up most tickets, many people can’t buy the tickets. Thus,
the resold tickets become very expensive. The price of the tickets can be 2 or
3 times of the original price. Many people who want to buy a ticket can’t bear
the high price.

So, the use of a real-name system can ease this problem. A real-name
system in which a user who wants to register an account is required to offer
identification credentials including their real names to the box office. One

may not use an online pseudonym. This system can prevent ticket touts
from buying many tickets in order to reduce the chance for people buying
expensive resold tickets.

Real-name system can be more effective to identify people who buy many
tickets or resell tickets to other people. Real-name system has a deterrent
effect to prevent ticket touts from selling tickets of some popular events.
If the ticket touts resell the ticket to the people, the police can find his ID

number faster and take legal action.

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