Actually, I think the scalpers are right on some level. If they can sell the tickets at x3 price, then the real price of that ticket is x3 the original price. It only means that the vendor could do the same and get them all sold out anyways. If they really want to stop this process, it's enough to issue only tickets assigned to a name and check IDs at the gate - this way you cannot buy the ticket before you know who is it for - which means if person X can buy a ticket for me, I'm able to buy it for myself from the source.
But limiting scalpers is basically the same as EULAs and DRM - they're regulating what you can do with the thing you just bought. They're making life harder for normal users, while those who gain money by ignoring the system keep earning money.
But the only reason there is a demand at 3x the price is because the tickets are believed to be scarce because the scalpers bought all the tickets to sell at 3x the price because when the tickets are sold out at the venue it gives the illusion of scarcity.
They would not be able to do that, if there was no audience willing to buy it at 3x price.
Just think about it: scalper buys all the tickets and tries to sell it for triple price. Nobody buys it. Concert starts, it is empty and the scalper end up with expired tickets in his hands.
Does that happen? No, because people are willing to pay triple price.
Alternatively, the scalper sells half the tickets and makes a 50% profit overall. The concert sits half-empty and thousands of fans miss out unnecessarily.
At some price 'X' you won't find any more people wanting to buy the tickets - and the race stops there. Even if they're scarce, people won't be interested in tickets costing more than 'X' anymore, or you'll be able to do only X+5% so it's not worth the time.
But if you sell the tickets assigned to a name in the first place, there is no issue anymore. As long as venue sells "blank" tickets, they basically say they don't care if anyone is reselling them at much higher prices.
If there was an auction for the tickets the price would be driven up too. Shows do sell out in minutes and not just because of scalpers.
Imagine an auction that increased ticket prices until just before the show began. Now stop imagining it and recognize that it's exactly the same as sold out shows plus scalpers.
Yes, the concert-organizers should really just have an auction for the tickets in the first place. This way no-one can complain about high prices, since the fans bid them up to that level in the first place.
For extra ethical browny points, the sellers could donate (a fraction of) everything taken in above a certain `fair-price' point to charity.
But limiting scalpers is basically the same as EULAs and DRM - they're regulating what you can do with the thing you just bought. They're making life harder for normal users, while those who gain money by ignoring the system keep earning money.