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Ticketmaster has been served...with subpoenas. "Four government agencies in the U.S. and Canada, including the Justice Department, are investigating the West Hollywood company's activities in reselling concert tickets," explains LA Biz Observed. The inquiry is to uncover information pertaining to their work with ticket brokers, "including the names of every broker who resells tickets on its TicketsNow site." Use of sites like TicketsNow--a "secondary ticket service"--can be described as essentially "a legal form of scalping, in which the ticket seller splits a commission with a Web site that facilitates the transaction." Precisely what specifics are being pursued in the investigation, or what precipitated the move to investigate, is not know, but it may be because of recent ticketing scandals affiliated with a recent Bruce Springsteen concert.
Adds LA Biz's blogger: "Ticketmaster's proposed merger with concert promoter Live Nation is already under review by the Justice Department's antitrust division."
