A former Ticketmaster executive has been sentenced in New York for his part in the theft of data from the ticketing giant’s now-defunct competitor, CrowdSurge.
Stephen Mead had already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusions against his former employer between 2013 and 2015. He had been CrowdSurge’s senior vice president for global operations and general manager for North America before switching to Ticketmaster in 2012.
Mead has now been ordered to pay $67,970 as a forfeiture and sentenced to a year’s supervised release. The amount was equal to the sum he received when he left CrowdSurge, as well as the pay rise he subsequently received at Ticketmaster.
Mead’s sentencing comes three years after Ticketmaster agreed to pay $10m to avoid prosecution on charges that its employees repeatedly accessed CrowdSurge’s computer systems. CrowdSurge merged with Songkick in 2015 with the combined business’ ticketing operations later acquired by Ticketmaster’s owner, Live Nation, in 2018.
Confidential information
Mead had joined TicketWeb, a division of Ticketmaster, just months after signing a separation agreement that stated he could not share confidential information after leaving CrowdSurge in July 2012. As part of the arrangement, CrowdSurge paid Mead more than $50,000.
After joining TicketWeb, Mead was soon hacking CrowdSurge’s servers to the benefit of his new employer. According to prosecutors, CrowdSurge computer server logs showed at least 25 instances when its company data was accessed by computers with IP addresses registered to Ticketmaster and associated companies between August 2013 and December 2015.
It is alleged that Mead gave a presentation to numerous Live Nation and Ticketmaster executives and employees during which he logged in to CrowdSurge’s website without authorisation. During the presentation – which was projected onto a large screen in a conference room – Mead demonstrated one of CrowdSurge’s bespoke products called the Artists’ Toolbox.
Mead was, prosecutors said, requested to give the presentation by Zeeshan Zaidi, another former Ticketmaster executive. Zaidi also pleaded guilty to fraud charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud in 2019, but has yet to be sentenced.
Songkick sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation in 2015, initially accusing the entertainment giant of anticompetitive acts.
Songkick lost a number of pretrial motions, but was able to proceed with its legal proceedings despite it effectively ceasing operations in 2017. The long-running legal battle concluded in January 2018 with Live Nation buying its rival’s assets and agreeing an out-of-court settlement.
Share this