Ticketmaster has already got into trouble over its subsidiary website, TicketsNow, which buys up tickets and resells them at an inflated rate. This practice, arguably designed to dupe customers into shelling out higher prices for tickets, earned the company a $500 million class-action lawsuit in early 2009. Now, the Ontario government is looking to intervene, passing a law to prevent the company from selling and reselling the same tickets.
The CBC reports that Ontario's Liberal government, supported by the NDP, passed the Ticket Speculation Act. This prevents TicketsNow from buying up tickets and selling them just minutes after they go on sale on Ticketmaster. Under the current system, tickets to events sell out quickly, and buyers are redirected to TicketsNow, where the prices are higher.
Opponents of the Ticket Speculation Act say that Ontario already has a law preventing tickets from being resold above face value, and that it is never enforced. Some claim that the new law won't be any more effective than the old one in blocking the Ticketmaster/TicketsNow reselling.
If this new law is effectively enforced, there's no question that this is a major victory for Ontario consumers.
The CBC reports that Ontario's Liberal government, supported by the NDP, passed the Ticket Speculation Act. This prevents TicketsNow from buying up tickets and selling them just minutes after they go on sale on Ticketmaster. Under the current system, tickets to events sell out quickly, and buyers are redirected to TicketsNow, where the prices are higher.
Opponents of the Ticket Speculation Act say that Ontario already has a law preventing tickets from being resold above face value, and that it is never enforced. Some claim that the new law won't be any more effective than the old one in blocking the Ticketmaster/TicketsNow reselling.
If this new law is effectively enforced, there's no question that this is a major victory for Ontario consumers.
