Volpone
03-24-2009, 05:50 PM
I don't have the energy to blog about such useless things but I do feel the need to vent the extraordinary amount of stupid things I (we) encounter that don't have enough meat for a real thread. So, periodically, I'm going to do useless ramblings about bs of varying importance (domestic and international).
By the way, I know that this thread is probably the dumb thing you heard/read/saw today.
Anyways, news today:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090324.wticket0324/BNStory/National/home
Ontario government targets Ticketmaster
The Canadian Press
March 24, 2009 at 4:30 PM EDT
TORONTO — The controversial website TicketsNow will be targeted in Ontario with a new law prohibiting entertainment colossus Ticketmaster from allowing tickets to events in the province from being resold on the site.
The province geared up for the fight against Ticketmaster after it asked the company to stop the practice but was rebuffed, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.
“We thought that they might, of their own accord, accept our request to do what we believe is the right thing in the circumstances to protect consumers, to protect ticket buyers,” Mr. McGuinty said.
“It appears that we're going to have to introduce legislation, and that's what we're prepared to do.”
Ticketmaster has been facing a growing backlash from consumers and artists opposed to its ownership of TicketsNow, where tickets are often sold for many times their face value.
Ontario wants to make sure consumers are treated fairly, Mr. McGuinty said.
“We're just asking the folks at Ticketmaster to be reasonable,” he said. “They've put this kind of (resale restriction) in place in parts of the U.S. now.”
Ticketmaster said Tuesday that TicketsNow should be treated the same as every other resale site and broker, and complained the company is unfairly being targeted by the Ontario government.
“Every Ontario resident knows above-face price resale thrives via countless brokers and sidewalk scalpers, and they also know that many online resale sites and newspaper ads serve as marketplaces offering tickets for events,” said Ticketmaster vice-president Joe Freeman.
“Any proposed law should actually seek to protect consumers rather than unfairly single one company out.”
Mr. Freeman said Ticketmaster does not divert tickets to TicketsNow nor give the resale site any preferential treatment.
He also confirmed that tickets for events in Manitoba and Alberta are not offered for resale on TicketsNow because of laws in those provinces.
“We have acted in good faith compliance with existing laws in every jurisdiction in which we operate,” Mr. Freeman said.
Ticketmaster purchased TicketsNow last year for $265-million (U.S.), and takes a cut of every ticket resold through TicketsNow in addition to the original service charges it levies when tickets are first sold.
Two class-action lawsuits have been filed in Canada against Ticketmaster, and Industry Minister Tony Clement announced this month that the federal Competition Bureau was looking at the company's policies.
Ticketmaster recently reached a $350,000 settlement with the state of New Jersey and agreed to compensate fans to a Bruce Springsteen concert after The Boss fumed about prices on TicketsNow being up to 50 times the original face value.
There was no talk of a fine or compensation for Ontario fans who had purchased tickets on TicketsNow in the proposed legislation, which will be aimed at protecting consumers, said Attorney General Chris Bentley.
“The goal is to make sure that we don't have resales of tickets on the secondary market in a way that is unfair to Ontario consumers,” he said.
“People want to know that they're going to have fair access to tickets, and if the product is never or rarely offered at the face price, I think the consumer should know up front.”
Ontario officials had no concerns about Ticketmaster's ownership of TicketsNow when the issue was raised in December.
Since then, however, politicians have seen a growing public outcry about prices on the resale site, especially for high-profile events like the current concert tour by Canadian icon Leonard Cohen.
The ownership of TicketsNow isn't the only issue keeping Ticketmaster in the news.
The U.S. Department of Justice last week made its second request to Ticketmaster and concert promoter Live Nation for more information about their proposed merger.
Ticketmaster is the world's largest seller of tickets to concerts and shows, and Live Nation is the largest U.S. operator of concert venues.
Artists have expressed concern that a merger would lead to a near monopoly on large-scale concerts.
So of all the stupid things, the province of Ontario wants to come up with legislation to fix prices in the private sector as a reaction to voters who can't afford going to concerts.
First of all, the reason a secondary market exists is because the primary market does not satisfy the supply and demand relationship. The tickets that are sold at 10x the face value are like that for a reason: people will pay for them!
Second, tell me this: what unalienable right is being denied to these people? I have heard a lot of complaints that it isn't fair to pay more than face value to scalpers, when there's nothing unfair about it at all. If you can't afford the ticket, you don't have the right to go.
Some have accused Ticketmaster of being greedy. I wonder who is more greedy: the person selling the goods, or the person who'll pay anything to have them.
People have a hard time understanding that the consumer is the one who controls the price. If you don't like the price of something (and can live without it), DON'T PAY FOR IT!
By the way, I know that this thread is probably the dumb thing you heard/read/saw today.
Anyways, news today:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090324.wticket0324/BNStory/National/home
Ontario government targets Ticketmaster
The Canadian Press
March 24, 2009 at 4:30 PM EDT
TORONTO — The controversial website TicketsNow will be targeted in Ontario with a new law prohibiting entertainment colossus Ticketmaster from allowing tickets to events in the province from being resold on the site.
The province geared up for the fight against Ticketmaster after it asked the company to stop the practice but was rebuffed, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday.
“We thought that they might, of their own accord, accept our request to do what we believe is the right thing in the circumstances to protect consumers, to protect ticket buyers,” Mr. McGuinty said.
“It appears that we're going to have to introduce legislation, and that's what we're prepared to do.”
Ticketmaster has been facing a growing backlash from consumers and artists opposed to its ownership of TicketsNow, where tickets are often sold for many times their face value.
Ontario wants to make sure consumers are treated fairly, Mr. McGuinty said.
“We're just asking the folks at Ticketmaster to be reasonable,” he said. “They've put this kind of (resale restriction) in place in parts of the U.S. now.”
Ticketmaster said Tuesday that TicketsNow should be treated the same as every other resale site and broker, and complained the company is unfairly being targeted by the Ontario government.
“Every Ontario resident knows above-face price resale thrives via countless brokers and sidewalk scalpers, and they also know that many online resale sites and newspaper ads serve as marketplaces offering tickets for events,” said Ticketmaster vice-president Joe Freeman.
“Any proposed law should actually seek to protect consumers rather than unfairly single one company out.”
Mr. Freeman said Ticketmaster does not divert tickets to TicketsNow nor give the resale site any preferential treatment.
He also confirmed that tickets for events in Manitoba and Alberta are not offered for resale on TicketsNow because of laws in those provinces.
“We have acted in good faith compliance with existing laws in every jurisdiction in which we operate,” Mr. Freeman said.
Ticketmaster purchased TicketsNow last year for $265-million (U.S.), and takes a cut of every ticket resold through TicketsNow in addition to the original service charges it levies when tickets are first sold.
Two class-action lawsuits have been filed in Canada against Ticketmaster, and Industry Minister Tony Clement announced this month that the federal Competition Bureau was looking at the company's policies.
Ticketmaster recently reached a $350,000 settlement with the state of New Jersey and agreed to compensate fans to a Bruce Springsteen concert after The Boss fumed about prices on TicketsNow being up to 50 times the original face value.
There was no talk of a fine or compensation for Ontario fans who had purchased tickets on TicketsNow in the proposed legislation, which will be aimed at protecting consumers, said Attorney General Chris Bentley.
“The goal is to make sure that we don't have resales of tickets on the secondary market in a way that is unfair to Ontario consumers,” he said.
“People want to know that they're going to have fair access to tickets, and if the product is never or rarely offered at the face price, I think the consumer should know up front.”
Ontario officials had no concerns about Ticketmaster's ownership of TicketsNow when the issue was raised in December.
Since then, however, politicians have seen a growing public outcry about prices on the resale site, especially for high-profile events like the current concert tour by Canadian icon Leonard Cohen.
The ownership of TicketsNow isn't the only issue keeping Ticketmaster in the news.
The U.S. Department of Justice last week made its second request to Ticketmaster and concert promoter Live Nation for more information about their proposed merger.
Ticketmaster is the world's largest seller of tickets to concerts and shows, and Live Nation is the largest U.S. operator of concert venues.
Artists have expressed concern that a merger would lead to a near monopoly on large-scale concerts.
So of all the stupid things, the province of Ontario wants to come up with legislation to fix prices in the private sector as a reaction to voters who can't afford going to concerts.
First of all, the reason a secondary market exists is because the primary market does not satisfy the supply and demand relationship. The tickets that are sold at 10x the face value are like that for a reason: people will pay for them!
Second, tell me this: what unalienable right is being denied to these people? I have heard a lot of complaints that it isn't fair to pay more than face value to scalpers, when there's nothing unfair about it at all. If you can't afford the ticket, you don't have the right to go.
Some have accused Ticketmaster of being greedy. I wonder who is more greedy: the person selling the goods, or the person who'll pay anything to have them.
People have a hard time understanding that the consumer is the one who controls the price. If you don't like the price of something (and can live without it), DON'T PAY FOR IT!