As comedians, personalities, and musicians worldwide joined together to promote the cause of environmental awareness, interested viewers took to their computers, collectively generating more than 9 million internet streams, according to Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s MSN service.

The previous record was set in 2005 during Live 8 - another philanthropic concert aimed to fight global poverty. "We have exceeded any other online entertainment event," MSN's product manager noted in a Reuters piece. "It's really exciting to see the enthusiasm for the concert."

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer signed a bill last week eliminating state-imposed price restriction on reselling event tickets, effectively legalizing scalping. More and more states have been repealing anti-scalping laws in recent years, paving the way for companies like eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) subsidiary StubHub to create a market for the resale of tickets.

As "deregulation" of scalping continues, StubHub and similar companies should prosper. It's hard to understand why it's taken so long for so many states to eliminate these antiquated laws. According to the Boston Globe, "The justification for anti-scalping laws has been the desire to prevent fans from paying exorbitant amounts for tickets."

But if someone wants to pay $5,000 for a ticket to see the Rolling Stones, why would the government interfere? Who exactly is being protected when the state tells a guy who wants to buy a ticket from someone who wants to sell it that he's not allowed to see the concert.

There's really no economics-based justification for anti-scalping laws. It appears to be a reaction to the unsavory perception of the business, but I can think of plenty of other unsavory industries that are perfectly legal. Now I'm going to go look at my cell phone bill and try to figure out why it's so high.