Posted on 05/24/2024 1:11:34 PM PDT by Miami Rebel
The Justice Department sued Ticketmaster and its parent company Thursday, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly over live events in America and asking a court to break up the system that squelches competition and drives up prices for fans.
Filed in federal court in Manhattan, the sweeping antitrust lawsuit was brought with 30 state and district attorneys general and seeks to dismantle the monopoly they say is squeezing out smaller promoters, hurting artists and drowning ticket buyers in fees. Ticketmaster and its owner, Live Nation Entertainment, have a long history of clashes with major artists and their fans, including Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen.
The government accused Live Nation of tactics — including threats and retaliation — that Garland said have allowed the entertainment giant to “suffocate the competition” by controlling virtually every aspect of the industry, from concert promotion to ticketing. The impact is seen in an “endless list of fees on fans,” the attorney general said.
“Live music should not be available only to those who can afford to pay the Ticketmaster tax,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
That said, it's apparent that LiveNation has had a stranglehold on concert tickets for years, a circumstance for which anti-trust legislation was originally enacted.
Moreover, in the government filing there is direct evidence of coercion by LiveNation against both artists and promoters.
None of the gov’t’s constitutional business. More unconstitutional gov’t overreach.
Had enough yet?
Time to dismantle the 80%+. $3+ trillion unconstitutional portion of the feds and restore our Free Constitutional Republic.
This is to boost Taylor Swift even more. She is going to have a fall concert for Biden, where she will implore her fans to vote for him.
It should have been done a long time ago. I can’t figure out why so called conservatives champion monopolies, capitalism only works when there’s competition. A monopoly functions just like a democrat ran government, they r in your pocket at will and there isn’t much you can do to stop them.
I don’t think she needs help. From Variety:
Taylor Swift‘s huge year just claimed a new record: Her “Eras” Tour generated an estimated $1.04 billion in gross ticket sales — the first tour to ever hit the billion-dollar milestone — according to the live-music trade publication Pollstar.
Swift’s tour topped all previous tours in ticket sales for the 12-month period of Nov. 17, 2022, to Nov. 15, 2023. During that time, the Eras Tour sold an estimated 4.35 million tickets from 60 shows. Beyond ticket revenues, Pollstar’s research estimated Eras Tour merchandise sales at approximately $200 million during that run.
Bad news being visited upon TicketMaster et al is heartwarming. I have used them twice in my life, both times for shows that were cancelled (one was Jimmy Buffet). Despite having bought the refund insurance at the time of my original purchase, TM denied my refund out of hand saying that they had no record of my insurance purchase. So I was out of luck on the first purchase but the TM attitude regarding the second show cancellation (JB) apparently anger enough folks that a class action lawsuit was filed. I was notified of the legal action and joined in. It took two years but I got a complete refund.
I felt like I needed a shower after dealing with TM.
It's not to help HER. It's another sop to young liberal women who Biden hopes will vote for him if he relieves them of Ticketmaster's bad practices ... similar to the "forgiveness" of student loans.
IOW, vote buying.
The government approved the Ticketmaster / LiveNation merger in the first place despite the fact that it would obviously reduce competition.
“She is going to have a fall concert for Biden, where she will implore her fans to vote for him.”
She made her fortune writing songs about her poor taste in men.
This absolutely is. It's an illegal monopoly. It operates across state lines, which makes it Federal.
Monopolization, attempted monopolization, or conspiracy to monopolize can violate both civil and criminal law.
Monopolization does not violate constitutional law which is the Supreme law of the Land and is the ONLY source of valid federal gov’t action.
States operating under their state laws, fine. But the feds are bound and limited by only those powers enumerated by the Constitution, which gives the feds no power over monopolization.
A close look reveals the feds are behind any issues regarding monopolization. But in the market economy FREE from gov’t interference, “monopolization” normally doesn’t last too long.
Yes, BUT
Maybe the Right needs to learn some lessons. The Left "buys votes" by actually using power to do things for their constituents. The Right whines about people "buying votes" while it ignores its constituents in favour of large corporations that hate them.
Now, why do you think the Left is more successful while the Right stands around holding an empty bag and crying?
It's the nature of the beast.
The right typically wants to live their lives and be left alone.
The left, from what I have discerned, are always fighting, never letting up, for their cause.
We don't do that. They do.
That's why they win.
The efforts of the English government, backed by English merchants and manufacturers, to deny to the Americans the right to compete in foreign markets and to secure the benefits of foreign competition was one of the most potent causes of the American Revolution.
James Madison proposed during the Philadelphia convention to give the federal government the power to grant "charters of incorporation." This proposal was voted down because, as Rufus King of Massachusetts argued, it might lead to "mercantile monopolies," as had happened in England before the American Revolution. George Mason also objected to giving Congress the power to grant charters of incorporation arguing that this power would lead to "monopolies of every sort".
The other provision in the original Constitution which was relevant to the monopoly issue was the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV, Section 2, which states "The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States." Similar privileges and immunities clauses had also been included in many of the colonial charters and in the Articles of Confederation. The "privileges" and "immunities" which the Articles of Confederation protected were the traditional rights that the American people had always had as Englishmen. The Articles thus provided that: "The Inhabitants of each Colony shall henceforth always have the same Rights, Liberties, Privileges, Immunities and Advantages in the other Colonies, which the said Inhabitants now have". This included the right to be free of monopolies.
Sounds like Biden is making a play for the Ecstacy Vote.
“But the feds are bound and limited by only those powers enumerated by the Constitution.”
You need to reread the Constitution. Interstate commerce is clearly in the Federal purview.
L
It should have been done a long time ago. I can’t figure out why so called conservatives champion monopolies, capitalism only works when there’s competition. A monopoly functions just like a democrat ran government, they r in your pocket at will and there isn’t much you can do to stop them.
This is to get the Taylor Swift endorsement for the chomo in chief.
I doubt it. She does not seem that political to me. She had to declare her support for Biden in 2020.
She won't do it this time.
The Constitution is properly applied as written and originally understood and intended.
The Intestate Commerce Clause (ICC) was intended to be a means of removing hindrances between the states.
The ICC is one of the many clauses wrested by the Left to expand the feds WAY beyond the intents or dreams of the Founders and ratifiers.
Quit siding with the treasonous and totalitarian Left.
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