eBay goes to bat to protect the right of Ticket Scalpers to rip you off

[mandy]

Earlier this year a number of cricket fans had their Ashes tickets cancelled because they bought them on the Internet auction site, eBay.

Now, organisers of the 2007 Big Day Out music festival have cancelled tickets sold online by scalpers.

But eBay has had enough and is now taking legal action in the Federal Court over the Big Day Out's new anti-scalping ticket policy...

Promoters of the Big Day Out have now placed new conditions on their tickets promising to cancel tickets sold for profit.

But that has upset eBay - the company is now taking legal action under trade practices law...

However, the legal action has mystified organisers of the music festival who believe eBay has no legal grounds for taking court action...

full article: http://www.abc.net.au/news/indepth/featu...805514.htm

[FiberGuy]

Why don't they just become a VERO member?

[BellisimaJ.]

[quote author=FiberGuy link=topic=6228.msg35418#msg35418 date=1165515270]
Why don't they just become a VERO member?


[/quote]

Would Vero rights extend to tickets being sold at a higher price than they were originally? if so, I am clueless. I had no idea that Vero had/has anything to do with pricing.

Scalping is illegal in Michigan. Not sure about other states. Of course, it still goes on all the time.

[FiberGuy]

[quote author=BellisimaJ. link=topic=6228.msg35443#msg35443 date=1165523668]
[quote author=FiberGuy link=topic=6228.msg35418#msg35418 date=1165515270]
Why don't they just become a VERO member?


[/quote]

Would Vero rights extend to tickets being sold at a higher price than they were originally? if so, I am clueless. I had no idea that Vero had/has anything to do with pricing.

Scalping is illegal in Michigan. Not sure about other states. Of course, it still goes on all the time.
[/quote]


Well... I wasn't entirely serious about it... simply exemplifying  the fact that VERO members can seemingly get auctions yanked on a *whim*. 

But then I thought a bit more about it...  (rut roh!)

Certainly there are DMCA protections regarding the name "Big Day Out" (I would think), so technically, why couldn't they become a VERO member and simply yank all online auctions for "Big Day Out" tickets?

[BellisimaJ.]

Certainly there are DMCA protections regarding the name "Big Day Out" (I would think), so technically, why couldn't  they become a VERO member and simply yank all online auctions for "Big Day Out" tickets?

Fg. you could be right.

[mandy]

Update: eBay wins court case

eBay announcement:

**Federal Court decision on Big Day Out tickets*** 

18 December 2006 | 05:58PM EST


Today an important Federal Court decision was handed down that a condition of sale for Big Day Out tickets is misleading and deceptive. eBay undertook action against the Big Day Out promoters in the interests of consumers who have been confused by claims that their tickets will be cancelled if resold for profit. This provides much-needed clarity to consumers.

The Court has found that the condition in question conveys a false representation that all tickets resold for profit will be cancelled. By claiming the condition is enforceable, the Big Day Out promoter has engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct toward members of the public.

Today’s judgment raises concerns about the implementation of ticket terms and conditions, which will need close inspection by the industry. In particular, promoters need to improve primary distribution and get tickets into the hands of genuine fans, rather than attempting to shut the gate after the horse has bolted.

Regards,
The eBay Team

Press coverage: concert promoters threaten to cancel future concerts after court loss

THE promoters of the annual Big Day Out festival have threatened to cancel the event in 2008 if the State Government does not legislate against online scalping.

The threat comes after their ticketing conditions were successfully challenged by eBay in Federal Court today...

Festival promoter Ken West disputed the intentions of the site operators, saying they had allowed "scalpers to hide in cyberspace and make a profit from their actions".

"I may not put the show on after next year because the more we stop scalpers, the more the Government can keep putting the scalping issue in the too-hard basket," he said...

full article: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/st...09,00.html