Last month, Ticketmaster was faced with serious allegations that it recruits scalpers who cheat the company's own system to expand its resale business. Though the company categorically denied the claims, they've since been slapped with a class action lawsuit.
The suit was filed Friday (September 29) at a California federal court. As the Hollywood Reporter explains, lead plaintiff Allen Lee is suing Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation for unfair business practices and unjust enrichment.
"Have you ever wondered why Ticketmaster has been unable to rid itself of the scalpers who purchase mass quantities of concert or sports tickets from its website and then resell them for much more minutes later?" the complaint reads. "The answer: Ticketmaster hasn't wanted to rid itself of scalpers because, as it turns out, they have been working with them."
"Indeed, on its own website, Ticketmaster refers to the activity of professional scalpers as 'unfair competition,'" the complaint continues. "But now it has been caught secretly permitting, facilitating and actively encouraging the sale of tickets by scalpers on the secondary market using its TradeDesk platform — all for a second cut on those sales."
The Ticketmaster allegations were first revealed in a pair of articles published last month as part of a joint investigation between the CBC and the Toronto Star.
The suit was filed Friday (September 29) at a California federal court. As the Hollywood Reporter explains, lead plaintiff Allen Lee is suing Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation for unfair business practices and unjust enrichment.
"Have you ever wondered why Ticketmaster has been unable to rid itself of the scalpers who purchase mass quantities of concert or sports tickets from its website and then resell them for much more minutes later?" the complaint reads. "The answer: Ticketmaster hasn't wanted to rid itself of scalpers because, as it turns out, they have been working with them."
"Indeed, on its own website, Ticketmaster refers to the activity of professional scalpers as 'unfair competition,'" the complaint continues. "But now it has been caught secretly permitting, facilitating and actively encouraging the sale of tickets by scalpers on the secondary market using its TradeDesk platform — all for a second cut on those sales."
The Ticketmaster allegations were first revealed in a pair of articles published last month as part of a joint investigation between the CBC and the Toronto Star.