Ticketmaster receives subpoenas from the U.S. Justice Department

Well, it seems as if the U.S. Justice Department has taken an interest in Ticketmaster's practice of reselling concert tickets. According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Justice Department and three other government agencies sent subpoenas to Ticketmaster, it appears that Uncle Sam is interested in the resale of concert tickets. The other government agencies include the New Jersey Attorney General, the Canadian Competition Bureau, and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

There is no indication that the subpoenas deal with the potential merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation, but I imagine that the pairing may be investigated.

This news is followed by revelations that New York Senator Charles Schumer will propose a bill that would ban the resale of concert and sports tickets until two days after they are made available to the public . I have a new hero. Perhaps Schumer is Don Quixote tilting at windmills, but the fact that Bruce Springsteen fans (and myriad Leonard Cohen fans at that) were fleeced by Ticketmaster-owned TicketsNow.com for their tickets definitely raised suspicion and warranted a look. The best part of this may be Schumer's assertion that "Buying concert tickets has become like taking a trip back to the Wild West -- anything goes."

Schumer is dead on here ladies and gents, it's bad enough that Ticketmaster charges a ton of add-on fees (seriously, convenience fees?) for every ticket it sells. Now the company wants to announce that events are sold out minutes after ticket sales start, but they can go to the company-owned TicketsNow and pay even more for the tickets - something is rotten in Denmark here.

All that said, when Saturday rolls around I will be waiting at the computer at 9 AM trying to get playoff tickets to watch the Jackets, and I will pay the convenience charges - what other options do I have?