Rafy
Retired
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- 2005
- Uni Grad
- 2008
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof has condemned as "sick profiteering" the sale of charity concert tickets on auction Web site eBay.
Tickets to the star-studded London show, which aims to pressure world leaders into fighting poverty, were given for free to the winners of a text lottery. But they immediately started appearing on eBay for hundreds of pounds.
"I am sick with this," Geldof said in a statement. "What eBay are doing is profiteering on the backs of the impoverished.
"The people who are selling it are wretches. But far worse is the corporate culture which capitalizes on people's misery."
Geldof organized the July 2nd concert 20 years after the Live Aid sensation which raised money to help the starving in Ethiopia.
Rather than raise money, the 2005 concert aims to raise the profile of African poverty and influence the G8 group of industrialized nations which meets in Scotland in July.
Four other concerts will be held around the world on the same day.
Performers for the London concert include U2, Paul McCartney, Coldplay, Madonna and REM.
eBay could not be reached for a comment but the Daily Mirror newspaper quoted the company as saying they were selling the tickets because "we live in a free market where people can make up their own minds."
The newspaper said eBay had offered to donate £1 ($1.80) for every pair of tickets sold but the singer had rejected this, saying it was not in the "spirit of the event."
Over two million text messages were sent in a bid to get hold of tickets and the winners were notified on Monday.
Pairs of tickets were being offered for several hundreds of pounds on eBay on Tuesday.
Tickets to the star-studded London show, which aims to pressure world leaders into fighting poverty, were given for free to the winners of a text lottery. But they immediately started appearing on eBay for hundreds of pounds.
"I am sick with this," Geldof said in a statement. "What eBay are doing is profiteering on the backs of the impoverished.
"The people who are selling it are wretches. But far worse is the corporate culture which capitalizes on people's misery."
Geldof organized the July 2nd concert 20 years after the Live Aid sensation which raised money to help the starving in Ethiopia.
Rather than raise money, the 2005 concert aims to raise the profile of African poverty and influence the G8 group of industrialized nations which meets in Scotland in July.
Four other concerts will be held around the world on the same day.
Performers for the London concert include U2, Paul McCartney, Coldplay, Madonna and REM.
eBay could not be reached for a comment but the Daily Mirror newspaper quoted the company as saying they were selling the tickets because "we live in a free market where people can make up their own minds."
The newspaper said eBay had offered to donate £1 ($1.80) for every pair of tickets sold but the singer had rejected this, saying it was not in the "spirit of the event."
Over two million text messages were sent in a bid to get hold of tickets and the winners were notified on Monday.
Pairs of tickets were being offered for several hundreds of pounds on eBay on Tuesday.
