A $500 Million Class Action was commenced today against TICKETMASTER ENTERTAINMENT, INC., TICKETMASTER CANADA LTD., TNOW ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC., and PREMIUM INVENTORY, INC. (the "Defendants"), claiming the Defendants conspired to divert tickets to popular events away
from Ticketmaster's lower priced portal available to the general public (www.ticketmaster.ca), in favour of its ticket brokering website www.ticketsnow.com, in which the same tickets were sold at premium prices.
The lawsuit contends that the practice of selling tickets in the secondary market for amounts that exceed their face price contravene Ontario's anti-scalping legislation.
The lawsuit also alleges that the fees and surcharges levied to the general public by Ticketmaster also violate the Ontario legislation.
The lawsuit was initiated by a plaintiff who purchased 2 concert tickets for $533.65 including service charges, but excluding shipping costs. The same tickets would have cost him $133.00 on Ticketmaster's website, had they been available. Ticketmaster's website directed him to the higher priced tickets on the TicketsNow website.
The class action is commenced on behalf of all persons who purchased tickets for an event in Ontario from Ticketmaster or through TicketsNow.com from and after February 9, 2007.
