Historic Inauguration Could Lead To Ticket Scalping

November 11, 2008

Listen to the Story

text sizeA A A

November 11, 2008

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) says she's disturbed by reports that tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration are being sold online for as much as $40,000. She says she's writing to eBay and other sites to make sure they're not involved in ticket scalping. The 240,000 available tickets are supposed to be free to the public and are given out through congressional offices. Feinstein is also working on a bill that would make it a federal crime to sell tickets to the inauguration.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

And our last word in business today is about getting a ticket to that swearing-in ceremony. The word is forget eBay. California Senator Dianne Feinstein says she's disturbed by reports that some tickets are being sold online for as much as $40,000. She says she's writing to eBay, Craigslist, and other sites to make sure they're not involved in any inaugural ticket scalping. The 240,000 tickets are supposed to be free to the public and given out through congressional offices. Feinstein is also working on a bill that would make it a federal crime to sell tickets to the inauguration. That's the business news on Morning Edition from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

ARI SHAPIRO, host:

And I'm Ari Shapiro.

Copyright ©2009 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.