Ticketmaster knows it has a bot problem, but it wants Congress to fix it

In November, millions of Taylor Swift fans logged on to Ticketmaster hoping to scoop up tickets to arguably the most-anticipated tour of 2023. When the time came, the site crashed, rendering verified users unable to purchase admission to the singer’s first slate of shows in five years. In the immediate aftermath, Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation explained that while 1.5 million people had signed up as legit customers, over 14 million hit the site when tickets went on sale — many of which were bots. 

Live Nation president and CFO Joe Berchtold told the Senate Judiciary Comittee on Tuesday that the company “learned valuable lessons” from the Swift debacle. “In hindsight there are several things we could have done better – including staggering the sales over a longer period of time and doing a better job setting fan expectations for getting tickets,” he said. 

Berchtold told Senators that Ticketmaster experienced three times more bot traffic that day than it ever had before, and that a cyberattack on the company’s verified fan password servers exacerbated the problem. He explained that despite investing over $1 billion in ticketing systems since the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger, mostly to combat fraud and scalping, the company has a massive bot problem that it can’t get a handle on. 

“We also need to recognize how industrial scalpers breaking the law using bots and cyberattacks to try to unfairly gain tickets contributes to an awful consumer experience,” Berchtold said. What he called “industrialized scalping” led to the Taylor Swift fiasco, he explained, but the executive wants Congress to act to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. 

Berchtold called for Congress to expand the scope of the BOTS Act to “increase enforcement.” Signed into law in 2016, the legislation makes it illegal to bypass a website’s security or tech features as a means of purchasing tickets. It also makes it illegal to resell tickets obtained via those methods. Specifically, Berchtold called for banning the use of fraudulent URLs and stopping the resale of tickets before their general on-sale date. 

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 24: Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled Thats the Ticket: Promoting Competition and Protecting Consumers in Live Entertainment, in Hart Building on Tuesday, January 24, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn during Tuesday’s hearing
Tom Williams via Getty Images

The law leaves enforcement with the FTC and states, a topic Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn discussed with Berchtold in some of the most pointed questioning of the session. “You told me yesterday you block about 90 percent of the bot attacks that you get, and that’s a failing grade,” she said. “There ought to be people you can get some good advice from because our critical infrastructure in this country gets bot attacks every single day. They have figured it out, but you guys haven’t?”

Blackburn admitted that the FTC has only taken action on the law once, and that the lack of widespread action was “unacceptable.” She pledged to do something about the lack of enforcement through the dealings of the Senate Commerce Committee, where she is also a member. 

“The FTC has the authority, but you have a responsibility to consumers,” she continued. “I agree they are not exercising it, but how many times have you called the FTC and said ‘we need your help?'”

Berchtold explained that Live Nation had only contacted the FTC once about suspected bot activity — in late 2019 and early 2020. He said that was the only time they had necessary information to work with the commission in order to get a prosecution. “These are not bots that are trying to break into our system, they are trying to impersonate people… putting true fans at a disadvantage,” Berchtold told Blackburn when asked why Live Nation has such a hard time recognizing bots.

In regards to the BOTS Act, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told Berchtold there are already legal options available to the company to go after scalpers using bots to procure tickets.

“You have unlimited power to go to court,” Blumenthal said. “Your approach seems to be that everyone else is responsible here — not us.” 

GTA Online PC players hit with game-breaking exploit

A new exploit in the PC version of Grand Theft Auto Online is causing players to lose game progress and in-game currency, with some accounts becoming corrupted or banned. The exploit, a “remote code execution,” was distributed through the developer of the North Online GTA cheat mod.

The exploit can reportedly impact anyone, not just players in the same multiplayer lobby as the attacker, according toBleepingComputer. That means anyone currently online and playing the game on PC is at least theoretically vulnerable to attack. (Console players are unaffected.) Engadget reached out to Rockstar for comment, and we will update this article if we hear back.

The company tweeted this acknowledgment of the fiasco on Monday.

North’s developer removed the abusive elements on January 21st and apologized (their changelog read “bad judgement on my part for adding this public.”) Although GTA Online doesn’t block harmless community-created mods, those distributing cheats or other hacks tilting the game’s competitive balance may face real-world consequences. Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive have previously taken legal action against cheat makers, including the creator of an infinite-money hack who was ordered to pay $150,000 plus attorney fees in 2019.

A workaround for corrupted accounts, which some players have claimed works, is to delete the “Rockstar Games” folder from the Windows Documents folder before reloading the game. However, we recommend avoiding the PC version until Rockstar cleans things up.

Apple’s latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro is up to $200 off

Apple’s latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro has dropped to its lowest price to date across several configurations. The 512GB version of the tablet, which is powered by an M2 chipset, is $100 off at $1,299. If you’d like to double that storage to 1TB, you’ll save…

Android 14 can block users from sideloading very old apps

The next version of Android could bar you from installing ancient apps in some circumstances. 9to5Google has spotted a code change indicating that Android 14 will block users from sideloading apps (that is, installing them outside of the Play Store) that don’t target a minimum version of the operating system. It will stop the installation of particularly old software at first, but Google expects to “progressively” raise the bar to require at least Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

The move is meant to boost security and privacy. Malware writers can’t just target old versions of Android to escape security measures in newer releases, Google says. Google already requires that apps in the Play Store target at least Android 12. This update denies attempts to install vintage apps through the web or third-party stores.

This won’t completely thwart you if there’s a classic app you’re determined to run. It’s up to device manufacturers to enable the cutoff, and there will still be a way to install apps through a command shell. The new policy is meant to stop people from unwittingly installing malware. If you sideload an old app on an Android 14 phone with this measure switched on, you likely know exactly what you’re doing.

Still, it’s notable that Google is limiting sideloading at all. For some, it’s a reason to buy an Android phone instead of an iPhone — you’re free to install apps that aren’t available in the official store. However, it’s not surprising that Google is clamping down. Android malware writers frequently (though not always) rely on sideloading precisely because there are fewer restrictions than in the Play Store. A block on old apps won’t put an end to malware, but it could tighten the platform’s overall security.

Google will once again apply Gmail spam detection to political campaign emails

Google doesn’t plan to let political campaigns dodge Gmail’s spam detection for much longer. The Washington Post has learned that Google plans to end the email filter bypass pilot program by the end of this month. In a dismissal motion filed at a federal court in the Eastern District of California, the company rejects the Republican National Committee (RNC) allegations of political bias that led to the test. Gmail’s filtering methods “apply equally” to every sender whether or not there’s a political connection, the company says.

The pilot was a response to RNC accusations in October that Google was censoring right-wing fundraising emails by marking them as spam. The committee pointed to a study that supposedly backed the claims, but Google maintained that messaging frequency, user responses and other non-political elements dictated filtering behavior. Even so, Google acknowledged the pressure and got permission from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to run the test. The experiment was already set to end in January, but it wasn’t clear if Google would extend the program until now.

Over 100 Democrat and Republican committees joined the program after it was approved in August. However, the RNC wasn’t one of them. Google points this out in its new filing, asserting that the Republicans want to accuse the firm of unfair treatment instead of participating in the solution.

In a statement to Engadget, Google spokesperson José Castañeda says a recent FEC decision “confirmed” it doesn’t filter email for “political purposes.” The representative also maintains that the RNC complaint is “without merit.”

On top of the company’s own objections, numerous advocacy groups and other critics urged the FEC to reject the looser approach to political emails. They were concerned this change would let political candidates from any party spam users with few repercussions. With this latest filing, the debate is moot — politicians will have to take a careful approach if they expect campaign messages to go directly to your inbox.

The best wireless headphones for 2023

Over-ear noise-canceling headphones typically offer the most comprehensive set of features we want for our listening pleasure. The best of these wireless options combine stellar audio with powerful active noise cancellation (ANC) and other handy tools to create as complete a package as possible. Of course, some companies do this better than others. For Engadget’s best wireless headphones guide, we tested out a number of different models with a variety of features, including noise cancellation and sound quality. Plus, our favorites span a range of prices so you can decide how much you’re comfortable spending.

Best overall: Sony WH-1000XM5

Sony’s 1000X line has been our top pick for best wireless headphone for a long time now. Until another company can pack in as many features as Sony, and do so with a stellar mix of sound and effective ANC, the crown is safe. With the WH-1000XM5, Sony redesigned its flagship headphones, making them way more comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The company also made noticeable improvements to the active noise cancellation, adding a separate V1 chip in addition to the QN1 that was inside the M4. There are now eight total ANC mics as well – the previous model only had four. This all combines to better block ambient noise and high frequencies, including human voices.

The 1000XM5 still has all of the features that typically make Sony’s top-of-the-line headphones showstoppers. That includes 30-hour battery life and crisp, clear sound with balanced tuning and punchy bass. A combo of touch controls and physical buttons give you on-board access to music, calls and noise modes without reaching for your phone. Speak-to-Chat automatically pauses audio when you begin talking, and like previous Sony headphones, the M5 can change noise modes based on your activity or location. Plus, this model offers better call quality than most of the competition. The only real downside is that they’re $50 more than the WH-1000XM4 at full price ($400).

Runner up: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2

I’ll admit I didn’t expect Bowers & Wilkins to make the year’s best headphones list, or even be in contention for a spot. However, the company’s revised Px7 headphones impressed me during my review. The Px7 S2 are pricey at $399, but Bowers & Wilkins pair impressive audio quality with solid ANC performance. In fact, the Px7 S2 are my favorite headphones right now in terms of sound. There’s also a more refined design that doesn’t look overly plasticky and the headphones fit comfortably even after hours of use. Call quality, ambient sound and automatic pausing aren’t the best here, but they get the job done. At the end of the day, the design, sound quality and noise cancellation make the Px7 S2 a strong pick in the current true wireless headphone field.

Best budget: Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT

Audio-Technica has introduced affordable wireless headphones in the past, and while they didn’t offer active noise cancellation, they’re still worth considering. The company’s latest is the M20xBT, a Bluetooth version of the A-T’s popular M20x wired cans. For just $79, you can expect a comfy fit and up to 60 hours of battery life. Bluetooth multipoint connectivity allows you to connect to multiple devices at once and physical buttons provide reliable on-board control. The design isn’t as refined as the company’s pricer models like the M50xBT2, but you get the bulk of what makes Audio-Technica’s cheaper options so good.

Another solid option: Bose QuietComfort 45

The Bose 700 was one of our top wireless Bluetooth headphones last time around, but the company recently revived a workhorse with the QuietComfort 45. The design is mostly unchanged from the previous QC models, which could be a deal breaker for some. Once you get past that though, the QC45 combines Bose’s excellent active noise cancellation with clear and balanced audio. You can expect up to 24 hours of battery life on a charge and a comfortable fit that doesn’t get tiresome during long listening sessions. We’ve already seen them on sale for $50 less than full price, which makes the QuietComfort 45 even more compelling.

Another solid option: Technics EAH-A800

Back at CES, Panasonic announced the EAH-A800: a new set of active noise canceling headphones under the iconic Technics brand. While most of the features are what you see on any number of headphones, one figure stood out. The company says you can expect up to 50 hours of battery life on the A800, and that’s with active noise cancellation enabled. These are currently in my stable of review units for detailed analysis, but I have already tested them on a long flight. The ANC is impressive and they’re comfortable enough to avoid becoming a burden after several hours. Sound quality is also quite good (there’s LDAC support, too) and there are enough features here to justify the premium price tag.

Another solid option: Master & Dynamic MW75

While Master & Dynamic is known for its design prowess, the company’s over-ear headphones were due for a refresh. With the MW75 that debuted in June, the company opted for a look that takes cues from its MG20 gaming headset and mixes them with a combo of aluminum, leather and tempered glass. The company’s trademark sound quality returns with multiple ANC modes and ambient sound options for a range of situations. At $599, the high-end looks don’t come cheap, but if you’re looking for something beyond the pure plastic fashion of most headphones, M&D has you covered.

Another solid option: Sennheiser Momentum 4

I’ll be honest, I had a hard time choosing between the Px7 S2 and the Momentum 4 for the runner-up spot this time around. However, Bowers & Wilkins gets the edge in terms of design even though the Px7 S2 and the Momentum 4 are very evenly matched on sound quality. They’re the two best-sounding sets of Bluetooth headphones I’ve tested this year – and it’s not even close. Sennheiser does have an impressive 60-hour battery life in its favor and improved ANC performance. Those two items alone might be enough for you to overlook the very generic design.