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Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes

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Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes

#231

Post by ryandrake »

mattmaroon wrote: post #100
dylan604 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact we have had less than benevolent wizards and shamans, why would we expect to have modern day equivalent of only benevolent coders? It's such a fairy tale level of expectation that it seems childish. Spending any energy in trying to make real world a fairy tale is just wasted.

We wouldn't. You might expect that on an indivudual level. But at a society level, I would expect any company that's doing things that are specifically allowed by our goverment (who did approve the Ticketmaster Live Nation Merger) to get their jobs filled just like any other. I think Ticketmaster is evil, another developer might not. That's fine, they're not killing people or dumping toxic chemicals into reservoirs,…

Ultimately developers type the code in and hit "deploy." They have to share at least a fraction of the blame and accept at least a fraction of the outrage. Without them, the product wouldn't exist.

There's a lot of blame to be spread around though. The developers themselves, their management chain all the way up to the decision makers, shareholders that demand ever increasing profits, governments who provide the legal framework and allow these huge, destructive companies. Everyone should get their share of the blame.

Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes

#235

Post by joquarky »

probably_wrong wrote: post #67
phoronixrly wrote: post #34

With regards to the end of the article. > Can I work for a bad company and still be a good person? > No. https://apenwarr.ca/log/20201121

I'm glad we cleared that up. Now all that remains is a good, measurable definition of what a bad company is.

As one grows older, they may find that not everything in reality can be quantified or put into words.

And trying to objectify value judgements is another whole area of contention that inevitably leads to itself.

Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes

#236

Post by orbillius »

Closi wrote: post #209
CYR1X wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's piracy in a way that's analogous to ripping like Netflix content. You are breaking away from DRM which is piracy. They also cite the potential to have multiple tokens valid per one ticket which would let multiple people get in with the same ticket.

I doubt the second bit is true - they will still be marking the ticket as used in their backend. They are just trying to prevent scalpers printing off tickets 10 times and selling them outside the venues as a scam, which happened at every large concert I have ever been to until recently (so I assume this is working!).

> they will still be marking the ticket as used in their backend.

I assume that's true, but it makes me wonder how their scanners are connected to the server.

I mean, if 10,000 people showing up to an event with smartphones overwhelms wireless networks, wont that also kick their scanners off the network?

They'd probably like to have a system where, if a scanner loses its connection, it can still validate tickets. It could store a copy of validated tickets locally, and upload it when the network connection is restored - that would mean a copied ticket would have to make sure they go to a different door/scanner. But it would allow copying.

Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes

#237

Post by ssl-3 »

somerandomqaguy wrote: post #226
superfrank wrote: post #64

> I remember a time when printable tickets were ubiquitous. One could print off tickets after buying them online or even (gasp) in-person, and bring these paper tickets to get entry into the event when you arrive I go to 1-2 concerts a month so I'm well aware of how scummy TM is, but the problem with PDF tickets is that people sell fakes or sell the same ticket multiple times. I know multiple people who've been scamm…

>So do the digital barcodes if you add them to your phones wallet. ??? Last I heard the adding the barcode to the phone's wallet did not work, or at least not reliably. Some older folks I know struggled with it, and I specifically help setup the ticket master app and download the barcode. They mentioned that the app eventually logged them off when they got on site and had to struggle with poor wifi. Eventually got it…

Yes, "phone's wallet" actually means Google Wallet or Apple Wallet.

Stuff I add there works for me instantly every time, even with crowded venues and zero connectivity -- as long as I get it ready in advance.

(Not that I am defending this. I'd rather carry a paper ticket, since paper is more durable and far less complex than a phone is.)

Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes

#238

Post by limaoscarjuliet »

I got tickets for a concert in UK, which could only be bought if you had UK Ticketmaster app. No, the international version of Ticketmaster app did not have these. Had to get me a blank Android phone, had to initialize it pretending I'm in UK via VPN, so I can see the UK Android Playstore (got my phone number blocked by Google in the process - "too many verifications from this number"). Then, it finally let me get the tickets and actually see the dreadful barcode in the app.

This is horrible. Please stop.

Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes

#239

Post by dylan604 »

NavinF wrote: post #204
dylan604 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the AppStore: Data Linked To You: Purchases, Location, Search History, Usage Data, Financial Info, Contact Info, Identifiers, Sensitive Info. Nope Nope Nope.

That explains nothing. I'm pretty sure it's talking about info that you type into form fields in the app. Same reason FB "links" your health info even though it has no access to the health info stored by your OS. The same applies if you use their website. It'll still ask for that info with a web form.

> Same reason FB

...is not installed on any of my devices

Re: Reverse engineering Ticketmaster's rotating barcodes

#240

Post by anamax »

RScholar wrote: post #55

> Software developers are the wizards and shamans of the modern age. We ought to use our powers with the austerity and integrity such power implies. This is one of the most powerful truths underlying the world we currently inhabit. The sooner we can agree to behave accordingly, the better our prospects for ripping the reigns of society from the hands of those whose only animating principles are avarice and exploitati…

Ah yes, The Roads Must Roll.

It's worth remembering that folks who can be bought, can be bought off and spend a lot of time enjoying their riches while true believers are somewhat more difficult to convince and don't take any time off.

That's important because all of the big evils have been perpetrated by true believers in pursuit of their "one true way." (Yes, some large evils have been perpetrated by folks chasing money. I'm talking about things like wholesale slaughter of as many people as they could lay their hands on.)

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