Stephanie Skenderis
A&E Reporter
A School of Business faculty member is suggesting students join the recently launched class-action lawsuits against Ticketmaster.
“They are abusing their monopoly” on ticket sales, business instructor Wayland Chau said.
Ticketmaster was recently hit with two multi-million dollar suits.
The first lawsuit claims that Ticketmaster buys its own tickets in a matter of seconds only to divert customers to its TicketsNow, where the same tickets are sold at marked-up rates.
The second lawsuit contends the service charges levied by Ticketmaster on all ticket sales, saying this practice violates anti-scalping laws that prohibit tickets from being sold above face value.
“Their goal, like any big business, is to make as much profit as possible,” said Chau, urging students to join the suit.
Alan Shanoff, a Humber media law professor and Toronto lawyer, said it is advantageous for students to join the suits to show strength in numbers. But he explained that anyone who fits the criteria is already a part of a class-action suit, and may be able to reap the benefits of a settlement.
He suggested it might be hard to prove the case against Ticketmaster because Ontario’s anti-scalping laws are haphazardly enforced.
“People seem to get around them so quickly. Ticket scalpers on the street get away with it,” Shanoff said.
Shanoff suggested another way to protest Ticketmaster’s practices.
“The first word that comes to mind is a boycott,” he said, noting that Ticketmaster “wouldn’t be able to do what they do if everyone got the word out on the Internet that nobody is going to see, say, the next U2 concert. It might hurt a few other people, but it’ll get their attention.”
One Humber student said she would be interested in taking a stand against Ticketmaster.
“If there’s a band that I’m willing to shell out a hundred bucks for, it’s not OK to make it five times the price on their other site,” said radio broadcast student Raina Hersh, 23. “It means I’m working three paycheques instead of one to see my band. I have rent to pay, I have books to buy, I have other things I need to do.”
To join the suits or learn more about it, visit www.ticketmasterclassaction.com.