Sundance officials monitoring EBay

Desperate for tickets to see your favorite stars at their Sundance Film Festival premiere? EBay may be the answer -- or not.

Sundance officials say they are scanning the online auction site and cracking down on ticket sales for the festival, which opens in Utah on Thursday. Reselling tickets online is prohibited.

The festival gives locals a shot at purchasing tickets before they go on sale nationally. More than 2,460 Utah residents were selected at random for a chance to buy up to 20 tickets each at the locals-only sale.

Sundance officials warn that tickets resold online can be remotely deactivated before the film’s showing. “I wouldn’t advise people to buy tickets off of EBay or any other site,” except for the official Sundance site, a festival spokesman said.

It appeared some of the 293 entries under a weekend search for “Sundance tickets” were trying to get around the prohibition. Several sellers were giving away “free” tickets with the “purchase” of festival venue instructions or a film guide, which are given to ticket holders.