Can you imagine ... the horror, the horror of being denied floor seats for Kathy Griffin?

In its lawsuit against RMG, Ticketmaster essentially argues that the free market isn't all that free. In court filings last summer, Ticketmaster says that RMG's clients used bots to purchase, for example, 5 percent of the tickets to a Beastie Boys concert, and as much as 40 percent of the best floor seats to a show by comedian Kathy Griffin, denying the public a chance at these seats. Ticketmaster accused one broker of using the software to buy 45,000 tickets since 2003. Ticketmaster has since taken countermeasures to prevent such "assaults," but executives say automated buying still occurs.

Is the Ticket Biz Out of Line?