The internet is part of the problem many U2 fans can't get tickets for the shows they want. Before the internet age, it was difficult to get tickets for shows outside your own city unless
a) you ordered them through Propaganda
b) tried calling Ticketmaster in the other cities by phone long-distance
c) had friends or family in other cities who could buy tickets for you
or
d) travelled to the cities and got in line at TM outlets
Nowadays, anyone with a PC and internet connection has a shot at getting tickets for any show; Chicago, Boston, LA, San Diego, etc etc. Even the European shows.
The internet sales also open up additional opportunities for scalpers and ticket brokers to grab up tickets. Especially when TM.com allows up to 8 tickets to be purchased per show (2 GA + 6 reserved). Of course scalpers will buy as many tickets as they can. It's not only the ticket brokers who do this for a living who are going for U2 tickets. You also have people looking to make a quick profit by purchasing high-demand tickets like U2 and selling them on Ebay. Case in point, I was just browsing a message board for a local band in town. Here's what one dude just posted this morning.....
"So I hope to be making some ebay dough soon. I did quite well all from the confines of my home on the net. 18 tickets in all. 3 nights in Chicago, a few in Denver and some more in San Diego. I'm getting ready for the rest of the cali. shows in an hour. An 8 ticket limit is just crazy. If they wanted to at least curve the ticket resale problem they should make it a 4 ticket or a 2 ticket limit. Ahh well, hopefully I can pay off some credit card bills and not get stuck with any."
Dosn't that make you sick? This guy hates U2 and has no intention of going to a single show. He bought all those tickets just to pay off his credit card bills. And planned to buy more tickets today.