Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, are asking a U.S. court to throw out the verdict and order a new trial in a landmark anti-trust case where a jury found the company operates an anti-competitive monopoly that’s been overcharging sports and music fans.

This latest legal salvo comes just hours after 33 states alongside the District of Columbia filed formal motions on Thursday calling for the breakup of the world’s largest entertainment conglomerate.

The plaintiff states are asking the U.S. District Court of Southern New York to order compensation for fans, stricter industry controls and the selloff of amphitheatres as well as Ticketmaster, Live Nation’s online box office arm.

  • Babalugats@feddit.uk
    5·
    3 days ago

    Along with all of the politicians that helped them get to where they are, a market manipulating monopoly. I can remember a campaign warning that this would happen if they got control.

    I can’t remember what they were known as before it went ahead, but I think the campaign was against ‘world nation’ or something similar, around 2007 (Years after they had already been monopolising in many other ways in the US). It was a fairly basic website - no social media, but it spelled out in detail every single little thing that was bad about allowing them all to merge, and what would happen.

    It was largely ignored, and now we have this global behemoth destroying festivals and events worldwide, taking over some of the best and turning them to shit, overcharging for everything, little to no competition, hiring touts to resell their tickets, claiming tickets are sold out so that their ‘dynamic pricing’ could charge more. Creating reseller platforms and allowing themselves to drive the prices up to insane levels that they would never get away with on their regular sites.

    And the only reason it even got looked at is because the Presidents daughter or somebody wanted to go to Taylor Swift and the prices were crazy. It would probably be still ongoing today (and may still if Trump can do anything). That’s why so many politicians get free tickets and is the same reason that politicians shouldn’t get free tickets to anything.