Six companies have agreed to pay nearly $4.2 million to New York state to settle allegations that they illegally sold tickets to concerts and other events.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the legal settlements Thursday.
Schneiderman's office says some of the companies used illegal software known as a ticket bot to snatch up large numbers of tickets that were then resold to the public at significantly higher prices. One company's ticket bots allegedly bought more than 1,000 tickets to a U2 concert in one minute. Others sold tickets without the proper state licenses.
State law penalizes companies that use ticket bots to circumvent limits on how many tickets one person can buy and prohibits the reselling of tickets acquired through ticket bots.
Attempts to reach the companies Wednesday were unsuccessful.
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